Danny Heep: 1986 World Champion Mets Outfielder / Pinch HItter (1983-1986)

Daniel William Heep was born on July 3, 1957, in San Antonio, Texas. The five foot eleven, left hand hitting Heep, began his baseball career as a pitcher. Heep attended St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, winning two All American honors, while earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education. He would eventually be elected to the schools Hall of Fame.

Heep was drafted as a second-round pick by the Houston Astros in 1978. In 1979 he was the Southern League’s MVP batting .327 with 21 HRs 30 doubles & 84 RBIs at AA Columbus. 

Astros Career: Heep got a late season call up, making his MLB debut on August 31st, against the New York Mets. He went 0-1 as a pinch hitter that day popping out to third base, off pitcher Mets Craig Swan.

The next year at AAA Tucson in the Pacific Coast League, Heep batted .343 with 17 HRs playing in 96 games. He got back to the Astros for 33 games that year, where he hit .276.

1980 NLCS:  In the 1980 NLCS loss to the Philadelphia Phillies, Danny had one pinch hit at bat, popping up in to lead off the top of the 10th inning in the final Game #5.

In 1981 he started back at AAA Tuscon, batting .337 overall. He got called up to Houston in May & then again in September being used, mostly as a pinch hitter, as well as a utility outfielder.

Heep saw more action in 1982, playing in 85 games, batting .237 with 14 doubles 4 HRs & 22 RBIs. On May 14th, he his first career HR, it came off the Chicago Cubs Dick Tidrow at the Astrodome. 

In December 1982 he was traded to the New York Mets for pitcher Mike Scott. 

Mets Career: In New York, Heep soon became one of the league’s top pinch hitters. He along with Rusty Staub, gave the Mets two dangerous, late inning, pinch hit threats.

1983: Heep made his Mets debut on April 7th, in the second game of the season. He batted in the 5th spot & played right field. He had a big day, getting three hits & scoring two runs in Craig Swan's 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

On April 13th at Philadelphia, Heep had another three-hit game & hit his first Mets HR, coming off pitcher Dick Ruthven in a 10-9 loss to the Phillies. Heep had hit safely in his first four games.

On April 15th, two games later he homered off the Cardinals John Stuper in a loss at St. Louis.

On April 27th at Cincinnati, his top of the 9th inning sac-fly off the Reds Tom Hume was the games winning run. At the end of April, Heep was batting .400.

On May 6th, he hit a pinch-hit HR off the Reds Mario Soto, in the bottom of the 8th inning helping the Mets to a 7-4 comeback win. On May 9th, in the first game of a series against his old Astros teammates, Heep collected a pair of hits with two RBIs in the 6-4 loss.

On June 14th, Heep came to bat as a pinch hitter in the 8th inning of a tied game with the Cubs at Shea Stadium. He homered off pitcher Dick Ruthven (who was now a Cub) putting the Mets ahead 3-2. It was his second pinch hit HR of the season. Chicago would tie it up in the top of the 9th, but the Mets would win the game in the 11th inning, on Rusty Staub’s pinch hit walk off RBI single.

Trivia: The next day the Mets acquired Keith Hernandez, a move that would slowly turn the organization around in the future.

Mets Pinch Hit HR Record: On July 12th, Heep hit his third pinch-hit HR of the year, tying a club record. The HR came off the Reds Frank Pastore in a 6-2 loss at Shea. On August 4th, in a 2-1 loss to Montreal at Shea, Heep set the Mets club record with four pinch hit HRs, as he connected off Charlie Lea in the 6th inning. All of Heep's pinch hit HRs that season also came at home in Shea Stadium. 

 Heep would drive in runs in three straight games, & started out his August, driving in six runs in an eight-game span in which he played.

On October 2nd, Heep got the start in both ends of a double header against the Montreal Expos in Montreal. He hit a first inning HR off Chalie Lea, that was the only run scored in the game as the Mets & Walt Terrell won it 1-0. He had an RBI in the second game as well, Rusty Staub had the game winning walk off hit in that game.

In the 1983 season he got into a career high 115 games, hitting .253 with 8 HRs, 12 doubles 21 RBIs & 30 runs scored. He posted a .326 on base % & .722 OPS in 253 at bats. The Mets finished sixth but as Davey Johnson took over in 1984 & a bunch of good young players developed the Mets became contenders & one of the most dominant teams of the 1980's.

1984: Heep got two starts in the first three games of the season, going 2-5 with an RBI in the April 6th win at Houston. The rest of April, he went 4-7 as a pinch hitter batting .375 by months end. In May he was 3-8 as a pinch hitter.

On May 2nd, Danny came to bat in the bottom of the 9th inning, of a 3-3 tie with the Cubs. He tripled off Lee Smith, then came home to score the game winning run when Keith Hernandez hit a walk off sac fly to left field.

On May 26th, the Mets were down 1-0 to Orel Hershiser & the Dodgers at Shea Stadium. In the bottom of the 7th, Hubie Brooks tied the game with a HR. Heep then came in as a pinch hitter & doubled off Tom Niedenfuer, then came home to score what turned out to be the winning run-on Wally Backman's single.

In mid-June, Heep got a few starts, due to Mets injured outfielders. He began with three multi-hit games, including a June 21st three-hit game in a 10-7 win over the Phillies. 

He would hit safely in eight of nine games while batting .328 by late June. On June 23rd he hit a solo HR in the Mets 2-0 win over the Expos.

On July 3rd, Heep's 6th inning RBI single off Nolan Ryan brought the Mets within a run. Keith Hernandez homered off Ryan in the next at bat leading to the Mets 4-3 win. 

Heep kept his average up over .300 until the All-Star break, but in the second half of the season batted just .170 with only four RBIs. 

He ended the year batting .231 with one HR, nine doubles, two triples & 12 RBIs. He posted a .319 on base % & .631 OPS.

1985: Heep returned with the Mets in the promising year of 1985. On Opening Day, he went 0-1 as a pinch hitter in the game highlighted by Gary Carter's Walk off HR.

Walk Off Walk: In the second game of the season, Heep came to bat in the bottom of the 11th inning, with the bases loaded facing off former Mets reliever, Neil Allen. He drew a bases loaded walk ending the game with the Mets winning 2-1 over the rival Cardinals.

Five RBI Game: On May 3rd, Heep got a start in left field in a game at Cincinnati. He had a season high five RBI Day with a pair of doubles in the Mets win. In the 4th inning, he drove in a run with a sac fly for his first RBI. In the 5th inning he doubled with the bases loaded off Red's pitcher Mario Soto. In the 7th inning, his double off Joe Price drove in two more runs in the 9-4 Mets victory.

On May 15th Heep hit his first HR of the year, coming off veteran Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, in a 5-3 win at Houston over the Astros. 

Heep had a hot first week of June filling in at right field for Daryl Strawberry, hitting three HRs while driving in six runs on the west coast road trip. On June 2nd, Heep homered in San Diego a two-run shot off Greg Booker in a 7-3 Met win. The next day he hit a two run HR at Dodger Stadium off Ken Howell in a -4 loss. 

Outfield Collision: On Banner Day-June 9th, in the second game of a double header at Shea, Heep was involved in a violent outfield collision with Mets rookie Terry Blocker. In the top of the 5th, with the Mets down 4-0 to St. Louis, Joe Sambito pitched to Terry Pendelton with the bases loaded. Pendelton blasted a shot to right field, Heep & rookie Terry Blocked collided, resulting in an inside-the-park grand slam HR giving the Cards an 8-0 lead in the eventual 8-2 loss.

Heep played in both ends of in the double header split, collecting three hits & avoided injury.

On June 12th, his 8th inning HR off the Phillies Kent Tekulve tied up the game, sending it to extra innings. In the top of the 11th, he added an RBI sac fly in the eventual Mets 7-3.

Fourth of July Marathon: In the classic 19 inning July 4th Mets- Braves game at Fulton County Stadium, Heep entered the game in the 8th inning & ended up with five at bats. 

In the top of the 19th inning, New York went ahead when Gary Carter scored on a Ray Knight double to give the Mets the lead. Two batters later, Heep singled with the bases loaded off Braves pitcher Rick Camp driving in all three runs, with help from a Braves throwing error. He then scored on a Wally Backman single; the runs proved important as the Braves scored two more in the bottom of the 19th. Ron Darling held on in relief for the 16-13 Mets wild win. 

On July 20th, the Mets put up another 16 runs against the Braves in New York, with Heep adding his sixth HR of the year, one of five Mets HRs in the game.

'86 Mets Drama: During that season Heep was involved in some drama on a Mets team flight, getting into a fist fight with Darryl Strawberry. According to some accounts, Heep actually beat Straw up pretty badly. All made nice & everything was settled between the two, for the 1986 Mets championship season.

In September as the Mets chased the Cardinals for the Eastern title Heep contributed in his usual role.

Multi-RBI Games: On September 4th, he started in a 9-2 win at San Diego collecting two hits with a pair of RBIs. On September 12th, he drove in two runs in the second game of a double header against the Cardinals helping New York to a 7-6 win. Two days later he hit a 1st inning three run HR in Montreal off John Dobson, leading to a 6-3 Met win. On September 27th, he had his 11th multi-RBI game of the season in a 8-7 loss to Pittsburgh.

On the regular season, Heep hit .280 with 7 HRs 17 doubles a .341 on base % & 42 RBIs, appearing in 95 games. 

1986 Championship Season:  Heep got the start in the third game of the Mets season in a 9-7 win at Philadelphia. His third inning triple drove in Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter in what turned out to be the winning runs in the eventual Mets win.

On April 20th, he hit a three run HR off Kevin Gross in a 8-0 Mets win over the Phillies.

On April 26th he got the start in left field, getting two hits & driving in two runs helping the Mets to a 4-3 win in St. Louis. They would win the next game & sweep the entire four game set, leading Cards manager Whitey Herzog to concede the division that early in the season.

Overall, in the month of April, Heep had a good start to the season batting .368 with seven hits & eight RBIs. 

He saw some regular playing time in early to mid-May, enjoying a personal seven game hit streak. On May 15th at the Astrodome, he hit a two run HR off Nolan Ryan & collected two hits, in a 6-2 Mets win. 

In the first week of June, he had three multi-hit games, keeping his average up over .300 through the middle of the month. 

On June 2nd, he hit a two run HR off the Padres Lamar Hoyt & drew a bases loaded walk off Rich Gossage later in the game of an 11-2 Mets win.

Heep was also drawing a lot of walks to keep his on base percentage over .400% into July. 

On July 1st his RBI single off St. Louis' Danny Cox led Sid Fernandez & the Mets in a 2-1 win over the Cardinals. On August 17th, he matched his season best three RBI's in a game, including a two run HR off the Cox in a 9-2 win in the second game of a double header split with the Cards.

In September he drove in eight runs as well as having four pinch hits in eight pinch hit appearances. On September 7th, the Mets were down 4-3 to the Padres at Shea, when they scored three runs in the 6th inning with Heep drawing a walk & scoring a run.

On September 25th, in a Mets win at Chicago Heep hit a two run, 9th inning pinch hit double off Lee Smith.

In 1986, he would lead the club in pinch hitting, batting .300 (9-for-30) in that role. Overall, he hit .289 with five HRs, eight doubles, two triples & 33 RBIs. He posted a .379 on base % & .799 OPS.

Post Season-1986 NLCS: In the 1986 NLCS against the Houston Astros, Heep appeared in five games, getting four pinch hits at bats, collecting one hit. 

In the Game #1 Mets 1-0 loss at the Astrodome, Heep collected one of the five hits off pitcher Mike Scott.

In the Game #4 loss at Shea Stadium, Heep drove in the only run against Mike Scott, with an 8th inning pinch hit sac fly.

1986 World Series- Trivia: In the World Series win over the Boston Red Sox, Heep became the Mets first ever official designated hitter, appearing in that role in the first two games at Fenway Park.

On another piece of trivia, he became the first official designated hitter in World Series history to have the actual initials "D.H." 

In that first, historic designated hitter at bat, he singled to center field off Boston's Oil Can Boyd, driving in Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter, putting New York up 3-0. They went on to a 7-1 win, their first victory of that series. It was his only hit in the World Series going 1-11 (.091) overall. 

Mets Career: In his Mets career Danny Heep played 395 games, batting .263 with 241 hits 21 HRs 46 doubles 4 triples 108 RBIs & 116 runs scored. He struck out 120 times, drew 113 walks, posting a .340 on base % & .730 OPS.

Post Mets Career: After the 1986 season, the Mets chose not to sign him, he was let go to free agency and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

In 1987 he struggled batting just .163 in 60 games in Los Angeles.

1988 World Champion Dodgers: Heep batted .242 with 11 RBIs playing in 95 games for the surprising champion Dodgers. He also got to pitch for an inning that season, just like his early days at St. Mary’s.

1988 Post Season- NLCS: In the 1988 NLCS win over his old Mets teammates, Heep had two plate appearances; striking out & drawing a walk. 

1988 World Series: In the shocking Dodger World Series sweep of the Oakland A's, Heep saw action in three games. In the Dodgers Game #3 loss, he collected a double off Bob Welch in the 6th inning. The A's won the game on Mark McGwire's Walk off HR.

In the Game #4 Dodger win, Heep played the full game, collecting a hit, going 1-4 with a strike out. 

After the Championship, Heep moved on to the Boston Red Sox playing there for two seasons (1989-1990) in the twilight of his career.

In 1989 he had career highs in batting (.300) at-bats (320) hits (96) RBIs (49) & runs scored (36) playing 75 games in the outfield. He also pitched an inning there as well. 

Trivia: In his time in the American League, he made the record books as Nolan Ryan’s 4000th strike out victim.

Heep finished out his career with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, posting a.462 on base % while playing in just 14 games. He did not appear in the Braves postseason. 

Career Stats: In his 13-season career, Heep played in four post seasons, winning two World Series Championships (1986 Mets & 1988 Dodgers). In his post season career, he batted .148 (4-27) with three RBIs. 

Overall, in his career he batted .257 lifetime, with 503 hits, 30 HRs, 96 doubles, 6 triples, 30 HRs 229 RBIs & 208 runs scored. He struck out 242 times, with 220 walks posting a .330 on base % & .687 OPS in 883 games played. 

In the outfield he played 429 games, 15 games as a DH & pitched in two games.

Retirement: After playing Heep became a long-time head coach for the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, where he won two division championships. 

Heep also ran pro baseball camps in San Antonio Texas.

Honors: In 2006 Heep was on hand for the 20th Anniversary of the Mets Championship season. In May of 2016 Heep was on hand at Citi Field for the 30th Anniversary celebration of the 1986 Mets Championship team. Heep had also been on hand for the team's 20th Anniversary reunion at Shea Stadium as well.

Family: Heep & his wife Jane have two children, a son & daughter.

Danny Heep is the nephew of former MLB catcher 

Matt Batts. Batts was a star baseball & football player at Baylor University, serving in the US Air Force in 1942. 

Batts was a fine defensive catcher who played for the Boston Red Sox (1947-1951) St. Louis Browns (1951) Detroit Tigers (1952-1954) Chicago White Sox (1954) & Cincinnati Reds (1955-1956).

In his ten-year career Batts threw out 47% of would-be base stealers, batting .269 lifetime with 503 hits 30 HRs 96 doubles & 229 RBIs in 883 games played.