Johnny Paredes

Johnny Alfonso Paredes Isambert

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut April 29, 1988
• Final Game October 6, 1991
• Born September 2, 1962 in Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela
• Died November 4, 2020 in Maracaibo, Zulia Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Johnny Paredes was a long-time fixture and very popular player for the Aguilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan League, being named the circuit's Rookie of the Year in the 1983-84 season and played for them until the 1990s. He was a member of three championship teams, in 1983-84, 1991-92 and 1992-93 and was part of the team that won the 1984 Caribbean Series.

In the majors, he saw most of his action for the Montreal Expos in 1988, as the team was looking for a right-handed hitting second baseman who could platoon with left-handed batter Tom Foley. After impressing in spring training, he was given a shot a few weeks into the season after Casey Candaele had failed to hit, but he hit only .187 in 35 games and could not hold on to the job; Rex Hudler would claim it that July. After missing all of 1989 with an injury that ended any hope of his being a major league regular, he was plucked by the Detroit Tigers in the 1989 Rule V Draft, but appeared in just 6 games with the Bengals at the start of the 1990 season before being returned to Montreal. The Expos brought him back that September, and he went 2 for 6 in 3 games. He returned to Detroit as a free agent in 1991 and hit well in his final look in the Show, going 6 for 18 (.333) in 16 games. With the Expos in 1988, one of his coaches was Leonel Carrion, who had been a teammate and the team's big star when Zulia won the 1984 Caribbean championship.

He played in the minors from 1982 to 1988, and again from 1990 to 1993. His first two seasons were in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, but they released him after he hit .238 in 46 games for the Spartanburg Spinners in 1983. After signing with the Expos, he had some good years with the bat in their system, including hitting .286 as a regular for the AA Jacksonville Expos in 1986, and .312 and .295 for the AAA Indianapolis Indians in 1987 and 1988. After his time in organized baseball, he played with the Yakult Swallows in Japan, and also in Italy and for the Rojos del Aguila de Veracruz in the Mexican League in 1995.

He was diagnosed with cancer in 2018, underwent a couple of surgeries but succumbed to the disease in November of 2020. A number of sources list him as the father of Enoli Paredes, but the two are unrelated according to Enoli.