The Boston Red Sox have their fair share of Silver Slugger winners just before and in the new millennium. Wade Boggs, Mo Vaughn, Nomar Garciaparra, David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers rank among the most recognizable names to bring the award to the Red Sox organization.
There are multiple Hall of Famers and organizational icons in that mix. But there are also a few forgotten winners of the Silver Slugger during their tenure in Boston. One of them is outfielder Tony Armas.
Armas, a Venezuela native, played 14 seasons in the major leagues from 1976-89. He played four seasons with the Red Sox (1983-86), his second-longest tenured club besides the Athletics, and he also appeared for the Pirates and the then California Angels. Armas won his only Silver Slugger award in 1984, his second season with Boston. That year, he also received his second All-Star nod and his third group of MVP votes.
The Silver Slugger Award has been given to the best offensive player at each position in each league. Armas won as Boston's center fielder, and he shared the pastures with Red Sox legends like Jim Rice and Dwight Evans.
Red Sox fans may not remember Tony Armas' 1984 Silver Slugger award
“Dentro en casa de la vecina está el marido,
— Red Sox de Boston (@RedSoxBeisbol) August 22, 2024
indeciso sobre dónde dar primero,
con un bate de béisbol del extranjero.
(de esos que dicen y que Tony Armas, slugger)”. 🎶 @rubenblades
¡Recordando al venezolano Tony Armas en #TBTMediasRojas! 🇻🇪🔙 pic.twitter.com/mmLSJTG8Qw
Armas slashed .268/.300/.531 with an .831 OPS over 157 games in 1984. What won him the Silver Slugger was his home run power — Armas led MLB with 43 homers and 123 RBI. Other notable players around the top of the league in homers at the time were Dale Murphy (36), Mike Schmidt (36), Evans (32), Harold Baines (29), Eddie Murray (29) and Rice (28).
“You never have those goals. Your goal is having a good year, but I never thought I would be the home– run king or the RBI champion when there were many superstars in the majors. . . " Armas said of his 1984 season (per Society for American Baseball Research). "That I could compete with these superstars made me proud, and that year, thank God, I was able to play an almost full season.”
Armas isn't the most recognizable name in Boston's list of Silver Slugger winners, but he was one of the best power hitters in his heyday. He posted relatively low batting averages throughout his career (he was a career .252/.287/.453 hitter), but Armas hit 178 homers from 1980-85, the most of any player in the American League in that span.
Armas is well known in his home country of Venezuela. He was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum with 96% of the vote in 2005. He was also a coach for Venezuela's 2009 World Baseball Classic team, which came in third place behind team Korea and the winner, team Japan.