Tony Armas

This page is about the baseball player in the 1970s and 1980s. For his son, also a baseball player, see Tony Armas, Jr.

Tony Armas
Outfielder
Born: July 2, 1953 (1953-07-02) Puerto Piritu, Venezuela
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 6, 1976 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1989 for the California Angels
Career statistics
Batting average	.252
Home runs	251
Runs batted in	815
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1976) Oakland Athletics (1977–1982) Boston Red Sox (1983–1986) California Angels (1987–1989)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (1981, 1984) The Sporting News American League Player of the Year (1981) AL home run champion (1981, 1984) AL RBI champion (1984) Silver Slugger Award (1984)

Antonio Rafael Armas Machado (born July 2, 1953) is a former Venezuelan professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He was one of the top sluggers in the American League in the early 1980s. Twice Armas led the league in home runs, and led all of Major League Baseball in RBIs in 1984. He was, however, prone to injuries that affected his career. In his major league career, Armas went to the disabled list twelve times, missing 302 games.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Armas debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gulf Coast League affiliate in 1971 just shy of his eighteenth birthday. He spent six seasons in their farm system, batting .270 with 69 home runs when he received a September call-up in 1976. He appeared in four games for the Pirates, and collected two hits in six at-bats.

During Spring training 1977, he, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Rick Langford, Doc Medich and Mitchell Page were dealt to the Oakland Athletics for Chris Batton, Phil Garner and Tommy Helms.

Oakland A's

Armas was the opening day right fielder for the A's in 1977, though by the end of the season, he was starting in center, and saw most of his action there. Armas' inability to stay healthy limited him to just 91 games in 1978 and 80 in 1979. For 1980, Armas became a full-time right fielder, and finally played a full season, batting .279 with 35 home runs and 109 runs batted in in 158 games.

In the strike shortened 1981 season, Armas tied for the league lead in home runs and games played to be named the American League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. In 1982, Armas set a pair of major league records with eleven putouts and twelve total chances in right field against the Toronto Blue Jays. Following the season, he and Jeff Newman were traded to the Boston Red Sox for Carney Lansford, Garry Hancock and Jerry King.

Boston Red Sox

In Boston, Armas became a center fielder, sharing the outfield duties with Jim Rice (LF) and Dwight Evans (RF). Although he was booed by fans for his low batting average (.218), he placed second in the AL with 36 home runs, and seventh with 107 RBI.

Armas peaked again in 1984, batting .268 and leading the AL with 43 HR, 123 RBI, 77 extra-base hits, and 339 total bases. He was named to The Sporting News and UPI postseason AL All-Star teams, was Boston's co-MVP, and placed seventh in the AL MVP balloting.

From 1980 to 1985, Armas hit more homers (187) than any other AL player. His next two seasons were ruined by recurring leg injuries and Boston's acquisition of Dave Henderson. Armas was released after batting just once in the 1986 World Series. In the following years, he became a valuable role player for the Angels, and he retired after the 1989 season.

Coaching career

Armas is the current Batting coach for the Leones del Caracas a team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. His career in Venezuelan pro baseball was a stellar one. He played with the Leones del Caracas and the Caribes de Oriente teams. His 97 career home runs were the Venezuelan pro record, before another center fielder—Robert Perez "the black wall" of Cardenales de Lara--broke his record in 2007, and he is fourth in the all-time list of RBI leaders, with 412. He was recently elected by the Comité Contemporáneo to the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame, with 96% of the vote.

Armas' brother Marcos had a brief stint with the A's in 1993, and his son Tony Jr. made his debut in 1999 as a right-handed starting pitcher for the Montreal Expos.

Career Stats

Games	PA	AB	Runs	Hits	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	Avg.	Slg.	OBP	Fld%
1432	5502	5164	614	1302	204	39	251	815	18	260	1201	.252	.453	.287	.981

Twice Armas finished in the top ten in AL Most Valuable Player award balloting (4, 1981; 7, 1984).

• List of second generation Major League Baseball players
• List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions
• List of Major League Baseball home run champions

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Reggie Jackson & Ben Oglivie Jim Rice	American League Home Run Champion 1981 (with Dwight Evans, Bobby Grich, & Eddie Murray) 1984	Succeeded by Reggie Jackson & Gorman Thomas Darrell Evans
Preceded by Cecil Cooper & Jim Rice	American League RBI Champion 1984	Succeeded by Don Mattingly

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball Library
• The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp. Language: English. ISBN 1-4027-4771-3