Former Mets player and coach Mike Cubbage passed away on Saturday after battling cancer for nearly a year.
Cubbage was 74.
He played for the Mets just one year — 1981 — suiting up in 67 games while slashing .213/.289/.614 for a team that finished 41-62 in a season shortened by a players’ strike.
The University of Virginia alum was a second-round pick by the then-Washington Senators in 1971 but ultimately broke through to the major league ranks with the Texas Rangers in 1974.
After three seasons in Texas, Cubbage was dealt to the Minnesota Twins as part of the return for Hall of Fame righty Bert Blyleven.
Cubbage played from 1976-1980 in the Twin Cities, accumulating 447 hits, 29 home runs and 226 RBIs in 555 games played.
After his playing days concluded in the Big Apple in 1981, “Cubby” transitioned to the managerial ranks.
Cubbage started coaching as the manager of the Little Fall Mets in 1983, then pivoted to the Mets’ then-Class A affiliate Lynchburg Mets in 1984 and 1985.
In 1986 — the same year the Mets won the World Series — Cubbage’s steady climb continued via the team’s Double-A affiliate Jackson Mets before ultimately getting a shot at Triple-A via the Tidewater Tides from 1987-1989.
big league team in 1990. 4.01.96
Cubbage joined the big league team in 1990 as the Mets’ hitting and first base coach under Davey Johnson.
In 1991, Cubbage was the team’s interim manager for seven games after the firing of Bud Harrelson.
While the Amazins rotated between Jeff Torborg, Dallas Green and Bobby Valentine over the next six seasons, Cubbage remained a steady presence as the franchise’s third base coach — a position he retained until 1997.
Cubbage ultimately concluded his MLB coaching career as the Boston Red Sox’s third base coach in 2002 and 2003 under Grady Little, including reaching the ALCS in his final season.
According to Jerry Ratcliffe, Cubbage later worked for the Tampa Bay Rays as a scout and was also an assistant for the Washington Nationals during their 2019 World Series run.