Yosvani Peraza Marín (Gordo) (born 2 february 1979 in

Pinar del Río Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 191,081 (2022), it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños''. History Pinar del Río was ...

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 ...

) is a

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in 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

Cuba national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team () represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is generally made up of players from the domestic Cuban national baseball system, though it has at times included professional players who defect ...

. Peraza played for Cuba in the 1996 World Junior Baseball Championship, hitting .429 with 20 total bases in 21 at-bats and 8 RBI. He was second in average and probably first in slugging on the Gold Medal winners. Josh Bard beat him out for All-Star catcher honors in the event. Peraza also was in the 1997 Junior Pan American Games. In the 1997 World Junior Championship, he again led Cuba to Gold, hitting .500 and slugging .875 with 10 runs and 9 RBI in 5 round-robin games. He was named to the All-Star team at catcher this time. He debuted in the Cuban Serie Nacional in the 1997–1998 season. Peraza hit .333/.387/.544 for

in 2000-2001. In the 2001 World Port Tournament, he went 0 for 11 to tie Bárbaro Cañizares as Cuba's worst hitter. In the 2001–2002 season, Gordo batted .251/.326/.367. The next season, he hit .283/.338/.495 with 17 home runs and 58 RBI. In 2003-2004, the hefty catcher produced at a .301/.343/.487 clip with 16 homers and 67 runs batted in. He tied Loidel Chapellí and Osmani Urrutia for the league lead in RBI and was three homers behind leader Reinier Yero. Peraza batted .326/.389/.550 with 16 circuit clouts and 65 RBI in the 2004–2005 Serie Nacional. In 2005-2006, he hit .303/.422/.544 with 17 home runs and 54 RBI, tying for 8th in the Serie Nacional in homers. Peraza kept it up in 2006-2007, batting .322/.389/.533 with 17 home runs and 63 RBI. He tied Yohenis Cespedes for third in home runs, trailing Alexei Ramírez and Joan Carlos Pedroso. He finished 6th in total bases and 8th in RBI. He was just 2 for 20 in the playoffs, though. In the

2007 World Port Tournament The 2007 World Port Tournament was an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from August 2–12, 2007. It was the 11th edition of the tournament and featured teams from Chinese Ta ...

, he was far better than he had been in the 2001 event, hitting .419/~.486/.710 with 3 home runs and 18 RBI in nine games. He tied Pedro Alvarez and Alfredo Despaigne for second in homers, one behind José Julio Ruiz. He easily led in RBI, 10 ahead of Despaigne. He tied Despaigne and Jordan Danks for second in hits (13), behind Carlos Tabares. He tied Danks for second in average, trailing Despaigne. He was also third in slugging and OBP. His dominant performance helped him win World Port Tournament

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 ...

honors. In the

2007 Baseball World Cup The 2007 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 37th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through th ...

, Peraza backed up Ariel Pestano and got into three games. He was 2 for 7 with a long 3-run homer against

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

as Cuba won Silver, its first time falling short of Gold in a

Baseball World Cup 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 ...

in 25 years (and in 1982, it was because they sat out). Peraza continued his slugging into 2008. In the Cuban All-Star Game, he hit a walk-off homer against Jorge Longo in the bottom of the 9th to give his Occidentales a 6-5 win over the Orientales. He won MVP honors. Peraza hit .336/.465/.672 in the 2007–2008 season with 25 homers and 77 RBI in 79 games. He was 4th in the Serie Nacional in slugging and third in homers behind Alexei Bell and Yohenis Céspedes. He also ranked among the leaders in total bases (tied with Joan Carlos Pedroso for 9th with 180), RBI (5th) and walks (tied with Yoandy Garlobo for 8th with 60). His 37 intentional walks were 14 more than runner-up Garlobo as he led the circuit. Peraza was named to the Serie Nacional All-Star team at DH. Peraza backed up Michel Enríquez at DH for Cuba in the

2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an International Baseball Federation, international baseball competition. It began on March 5 and finished March 23. Unlike in 2006 World Baseball Classic, 2006, when the Round-robin tournament, round- ...

and batted cleanup twice. He was 4 for 9 with a homer and 3 runs in the event, putting him third on the Cuban squad in average, slugging, OBP and OPS behind Frederich Cepeda and

Yoenis Céspedes Yoenis Céspedes Milanés (born October 18, 1985), nicknamed "La Potencia" (The Power), is a Cuban-born former professional baseball outfielder. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut on March 28, 2012, for the Oakland Athletics, and has ...

. Peraza powered Cuba to a 5-4 win over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

; pinch-hitting for Joan Carlos Pedroso with a 4-3 deficit, 2 outs and one on in the bottom of the 8th against Rich Thompson, Peraza smacked a game-winning 2-run homer. He got three hits in a win over Mexico but then came up empty in his third game, against Japan. Peraza hit .329/.462/.663 in 2008-2009 with 23 homers, tied for 5th in the league. He was 4th in slugging behind Alfredo Despaigne, Yulieski Gourriel and Joan Carlos Pedroso. He led with 24 intentional walks. Defensively, he was second with 11 passed balls but threw out 20 of 38 attempted base-stealers. A motorcycle injury ended his 2009–2010 season early.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peraza, Yosvani 1978 births Living people Cuban baseball players Baseball catchers 2013 World Baseball Classic players Baseball players from Pinar del Río