Former MLB player, coach and manager Mike Cubbage dead at 74
Former Major League Baseball coach, manager and player Mike Cubbage has died at the age of 74.
Cubbage died Saturday after a year-long battle with cancer.
Cubbage was drafted twice by the then-Washington Senators, but decided not to sign a professional contract in 1968 and instead played for the University of Virginia.
The current Texas Rangers re-selected Cubbage in 1971, and he made his MLB debut for the franchise after moving to the Dallas area in 1974.
Cubbage remained with the Rangers until 1976, signing for the earlier version of the Washington Senators, where he played until 1980.
Mike Cubbage died Saturday at age 74 after a year-long battle with cancer
As a player, Cubbage played for the Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and the New York Mets
His final season as a professional baseball player was with the New York Mets, where he played one season in 1981.
After retiring, Cubbage went on to coach within the Mets organization, working his way up to managing the team’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates before going to work for the Mets himself in 1990 and 1991.
Cubbage served as the team’s interim manager for a week after Bud Harrelson was fired at the end of the 1991 season.
After Jeff Torborg was hired as full-time manager, Cubbage remained with the team until 1996.
Cubbage then spent five seasons as a coach with the Houston Astros before concluding his coaching career in the same position with the Boston Red Sox.
Cubbage also briefly served as interim manager for the Red Sox just before they broke their World Series curse in 2004.