Eduardo Paret Pérez (born October 23, 1972, in Santa Clara) is a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He is a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

for Villa Clara of the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

, and for the Cuban national baseball team. Paret was the starting shortstop on the Cuban teams that won

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

and

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

and second place at the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums in or around Tokyo, Japan, and the American cities o ...

. He was named

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

of the 2005

World Cup of Baseball The Baseball World Cup (BWC) was an international baseball tournament for national teams around the world, sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF). First held in 1938 as the Amateur World Series (AWS), it was, for most of its h ...

after going 12 for 19 with 8 stolen bases in the tournament. In July 1997, Paret and his Villa Clara teammates Osmani García and Angel López spoke with Cuban defector

Rolando Arrojo Luis Rolando Arrojo Avila (born July 18, 1965) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher who pitched from to . Arrojo made his mark with the teams from Villa Clara in the Cuban National Series, where he still is the all-time leader in hit b ...

by telephone. As a result, they were banned from Cuban baseball for "maintaining contact with baseball traitors." The ban has since been lifted. On July 28, 2006,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

.com reported that Paret and Yulieski Gurriel had defected from Cuba and into Colombia. . Days later, Gurriel denied the report.

References

1972 births Living people Baseball players from Santa Clara, Cuba Banned Cuban baseball players Olympic baseball players for Cuba Olympic silver medalists for Cuba Olympic gold medalists for Cuba Olympic medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Baseball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for Cuba Baseball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 2007 Pan American Games 2006 World Baseball Classic players 2009 World Baseball Classic players Pan American Games gold medalists in baseball Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games 2003 Baseball World Cup players 2005 Baseball World Cup players {{Cuba-baseball-shortstop-stub