Mike Cubbage, a baseball lifer whose eight-year major league playing career included stops with the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers, and New York Mets, passed away on Saturday according to multiple reports. He was 74.
Cubbage was a member of the University of Virginia Baseball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. With the Cavaliers, he starred as an infielder before being drafted by the then-Washington Senators in 1971.
In 703 major league games, Cubbage compiled a career batting average of .258, with 34 home runs and 251 RBIs. Though a light hitter, Cubbage hit for the cycle in a July 1978 game for the Twins. Notably, he hit his 34th career home run in his final at-bat.
We’re saddened to hear of the passing of UVA Baseball Hall of Famer, former big leaguer and Charlottesville legend, Mike Cubbage.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Cubbage family. pic.twitter.com/hlzHeUOzp3
— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) August 12, 2024
Cubbage never strayed from the game even after he played his final game with the Mets in 1981. He was named the manager of the Little Falls Mets of the New York-Penn League in 1983, then moved up to manage the Lynchburg Mets of the Carolina League the following year. He won the league championship that year.
That sparked the beginning of a successful post-playing career that spanned nearly four decades.
We are sad to hear of the passing of former Tidewater Tides player and manager Mike Cubbage. The Charlottesville native played for the Tides in ’82 prior to his retirement. He would later manage the Tides from 1987 – 89 and compiled 235 wins, the fourth-most in franchise history. pic.twitter.com/A5AuDSrfKH
— Norfolk Tides (@NorfolkTides) August 13, 2024
After seven seasons (1983-89) managing in the Mets’ farm system, he joined the team’s major league coaching staff under Davey Johnson in 1990. Johnson was fired at midseason and replaced by Bud Harrelson as the team stumbled to a 20-22 start.
Harrelson oversaw a midseason turnaround that saw the Mets finish 91-71, second in the National League East. But when Harrelson was fired late in the 1991 season, Cubbage took over for the final seven games of the season.
That was Cubbage’s only experience in the manager’s seat; the Mets went 3-4 under his watch.
Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images
Cubbage continued to coach with the Mets until 1996. He was the Houston Astros’ third base coach from 1997 to 2000 and their bench coach in 2001. After the 2001 season, the Astros named Cubbage their Special Assistant to General Manager, but he left to coach for the Boston Red Sox in 2002 and 2003.
During spring training in 2002, Cubbage was named the Red Sox’s interim manager after manager Joe Kerrigan was fired. He remained on the Boston staff as third base coach after the Red Sox hired Grady Little to be Kerrigan’s full-time replacement.
After leaving Boston, Cubbage became a scout for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. From 2011-13, he was a special assignment scout under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.
From 2015-19, Cubbage was a special assistant to Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo.
Cubbage won a World Series ring with the Nationals in 2019.
