Yulieski Gourriel
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| Olympic medal record | |||
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| Gold | 2004 Athens | Team | |
Yulieski Gourriel (born June 9, 1984) is a Cuban baseball player. A member of Cuba's national team and Sancti Spíritus in the Cuban National Series, <ref name="mlb1">Unsung heroes bound to emerge: Lesser-knowns players will share Classic spotlight with stars. Major League Baseball. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.</ref> Gourriel is primarily a third baseman, though he has also played other positions. The son of former Cuban player Lourdes Gourriel, Yulieski is currently regarded as the best player in Cuba<ref name="ba1">World Baseball Classic: Cuba's Yuliesky Gourriel. Baseball America. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.</ref>, and Major League Baseball scouts project that Gourriel would be a first-round draft pick if he were eligible for the draft.<ref name="ba1" />
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[edit] International play
Gourriel's contributions helped the national team win a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics and World Cup of Baseball championships in 2003 and 2005. During the 2005 World Cup, he led all batters with eight home runs.
He played second base for Cuba in the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic <ref name="mlb1" />, making the final out for Cuba in their championship game loss to Japan. He batted .273 in the tournament, with a .342 on base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage. <ref name="wbc1">World Baseball Classic: Statistics (Batting Leaders). Retrieved on July 4, 2006.</ref>
[edit] Domestic play
Gourriel had a solid season during the 2004-05 Cuban National Series, leading the league in hits and runs. However, he truly dominated in 2005-06, leading the series in RBIs, runs and triples<ref>XLV Serie Nacional de Béisbol: Lideres de Bateo (Spanish). INDER. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.</ref>. His 27 home runs, which also led the league, were one short of the record of 28<ref name="cn">Cuba scrambles to shine in baseball's Classic. Cubanet. Retrieved on July 4, 2006.</ref>. Gourriel's batting average was .327 and his slugging percentage was .676.
[edit] Reported defection
On July 28, 2006, ESPN.com reported that Gourriel and another Cuban national player, Eduardo Paret, had defected from Cuba and into Colombia. <ref name="espn1">Report: Cuban baseball players defect in Colombia. ESPN.com news services. Retrieved on July 28, 2006.</ref>. Gourriel refuted this claim on August 1, 2006, stating that he returned to his home in Cuba immediately after the conclusion of the tournament the Cuban national team had been playing in<ref name="espn2">Rojas, Enrique. Cuban star Gourriel has no interest in deserting. ESPNdeportes.com. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.</ref>.
| Preceded by: Osmani Urrutia | Cuban National Series MVP 2004-05 | Succeeded by: Alexander Mayeta |
[edit] References
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