Eduardo Paret

Eduardo Paret Pérez (born October 23, 1972 in Santa Clara) is a Cuban baseball player. He is a shortstop for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the Cuban national baseball team [cite web|url=http://www.radiococo.cu/Fichas/villa%20clara/vclparet.htm|title=Eduardo Paret Pérez|language=Spanish|accessdate=2006-10-10|] .

Paret was the starting shortstop on the Cuban teams that won gold medals at the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics and second place at the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He was named most valuable player of the 2005 World Cup of Baseball after going 12 for 19 with 8 stolen bases in the tournament [cite web|url=http://www.wkhonkbal.nl/index.php?taal=eng|title=World Cup Baseball 2005|publisher=official site] .

In July 1997, Paret and his Villa Clara teammates Osmani García and Angel López spoke with Cuban defector Rolando Arrojo by telephone. As a result, they were banned from Cuban baseball for "maintaining contact with baseball traitors." [cite book|last=Jamail|first=Milton H.|title=Full Count: Inside Cuban Baseball|year=2000|publisher=Southern Illinois University Press|id=ISBN 0-8093-2310-9|location=Carbondale, Illinois|pages=page 88] The ban has since been lifted.On July 28, 2006, ESPN.com reported that Paret and Yulieski Gourriel had defected from Cuba and into Colombia.cite web|title=Report: Cuban baseball players defect in Colombia|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2533062&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines|work=ESPN.com news services|accessdate=July 28|accessyear=2006] . Days later, Gourriel denied the reportcite web|author=Rojas, Enrique|title=Cuban star Gourriel has no interest in deserting|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=2536573|work=ESPNdeportes.com|accessdate=August 1|accessyear=2006] .

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