Former Mets player and coach Mike Cubbage dead at 74

Former Mets player and coach Mike Cubbage died 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 hitting .213/.289/.614 for a team that finished 41-62 in a season shortened by a players strike. 

The University of Virginia product was a second-round pick by the Washington Senators in 1971 and broke into the major leagues with the club in 1974, by which time they were the Texas Rangers. 

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 in the Twin Cities from 1976-1980, 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 as manager of the Little Falls Mets in 1983, then pivoted to Class A Lynchburg in 1984 and 1985. 

In 1986 — the same year the Mets won the World Series — Cubbage managed Double-A Jackson before a stint with Triple-A Tidewater from 1987-1989. 

Cubbage joined the big league team in 1990 as 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 Amazin’s cycled through 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 through the 1996 season. 

Cubbage 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. 

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.