Danny Heep

Daniel William Heep (born July 3, 1957), is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder.

Heep played for five different ballclubs during his 13-year career: the Houston Astros (1979–1982), New York Mets (1983–1986), Los Angeles Dodgers (1987–1988), Boston Red Sox (1989–1990), and Atlanta Braves (1991).

Heep played for two different World Series champions: the New York Mets in 1986, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988.

Baseball career

Heep played baseball for, and graduated from, Lee High School in San Antonio.

Heep played for St. Mary's University in San Antonio where he was twice an All-American, in 1976 and 1978, as a pitcher. At St. Mary's he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education, and he is a member of that school's Athletic Hall of Fame.

Originally drafted by the Houston Astros in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft, he would compile a .331 batting average, 23 home runs and 108 RBIs in a little over a year in the minors to earn his first major league call up. His major league debut came on August 31, 1979 against the New York Mets.^[1] He would remain with the Astros through the end of the season, compiling just a .143 average and two runs batted in. The second RBI, however, was a game winner against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 30.^[2]

He was traded to the New York Mets for future Cy Young Award winner Mike Scott.

Danny Heep was the 4000th strikeout victim to Nolan Ryan on July 11, 1985.

NCAA coach

Currently, Heep is the head coach for the NCAA Incarnate Word Cardinals baseball team in San Antonio. Since becoming head coach in 1998, the program has won two conference championships. In 2014, they became a Division I program in the Southland Conference.

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Heep's yearly records as a collegiate head baseball coach.

Personal

His uncle was former major league catcher Matt Batts, who played for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Redlegs between 1947 and 1956.

References

• Article – from University of the Incarnate Word's official website.
• Interview with Danny on Blog Talk Radio.
• New York Times Article on Heep's collision with Terry Blocker.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)