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Antonio Rafael Armas Machado (born July 2, 1953) is a Venezuelans former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder from 1976 to 1989. He is the father of pitcher Tony Armas Jr. and the older brother of outfielder Marcos Armas.
Armas was one of the top power hitters in the American League in the early 1980s. Twice he led the American League in home runs, becoming the first Venezuelan player to win a Major League Baseball home run title, and topped all of MLB in runs batted in during the season. Armas was prone to injuries and went on the disabled list twelve times during his major league career, missing 302 games.
During spring training in , Armas, Doug Bair, Dave Giusti, Rick Langford, Doc Medich and Mitchell Page were dealt to the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Chris Batton, Phil Garner and Tommy Helms.
In the strike shortened season, Armas tied for the league lead in home runs (22) and games played (109) to be named the American League Player of the Year by The Sporting News. In he set a pair of major league records with eleven and twelve total chances in right field in a single game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Following the season he was traded, along with Jeff Newman, to the Boston Red Sox for Carney Lansford, Garry Hancock and minor leaguer Jerry King.
Armas had a monster , batting .268 and leading the AL with 43 home runs, 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 AL MVP balloting.
From 1980 to , 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 season.
Twice he finished in the top ten in AL Most Valuable Player award balloting (4th, 1981; 7th, 1984).
His playing career in Venezuela was a stellar one. He started playing with the Leones and later joined the Caribes de Oriente. His 97 career home runs were the Venezuelan professional baseball record, before another center fielder—Robert Pérez "the black wall" of Cardenales de Lara—set a new mark in 2007. In addition, Armas is fourth in the all-time list of RBI leaders, with 412.
In 2005, he earned induction into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with 96% of the vote. He also was selected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998.
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