A left-handed batter who threw right-handed, he stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg).

After graduating from Elder High School in Cincinnati, Massa attended The College of the Holy Cross, where he starred in baseball and football.

But Massa chose professional baseball as his destination and signed with the Cubs on June 24, 1957.

[2] Three months later, after prepping with the Des Moines Bruins of the Class A Western League, Massa made his MLB debut, starting at catcher and notching two hits, both singles, in four at bats with one run batted in against Hal Jeffcoat of the Cincinnati Redlegs.

Massa returned to the minors for good in 1959, and retired in late 1963 after seven seasons in the Cub farm system, pitching in 24 games as well as handling catching chores.