1980'S Mets Pinch Hitter / Outfielder: Danny Heep (1983-1986)

Daniel William Heep was born on July 3, 1957 in San Antonio, Texas. Heep began his baseball career as a pitcher, winning two All American honors at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. There he earned a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and was elected in the schools Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the Houston Astros in 1978, as a second round draft pick. In 1979 he was the Southern League’s MVP batting .327 with 21 HRs 30 doubles & 84 RBIs. He got a late season call up making his debut against the New York Mets on August 31st.

He went 0-1 as a pinch hitter that day popping out to third base, off pitcher Craig Swan. The next year he batted .343 with 17 HRs at AAA Tuscon in the Pacific Coast League in 96 games, getting back to the Astros for 33 games where he hit .276. In 1981 he was back at AAA, batting .337 getting another call up to Houston as a pinch hitter & utility outfielder.

He saw the more action in Houston in 1982, playing in 85 games, batting .237 with 14 doubles while hitting his first career HR. He had one at bat (0-1) in the 1980 NLCS vs. the Philadelphia Phillies. In December 1982 he was traded to the New York Mets for future Mets nemesis, pitcher Mike Scott.

Heep soon became one of the league’s top pinch hitters & along with Rusty Staub, gave the Mets two dangerous late inning pinch hit threats. In just his second Mets game, Heep hit a HR while playing right field & first base against the Philadelphia Phillies. Then on May 9th he hit a pinch hit HR against the Cincinnati Reds helping the Mets to a comeback win. He would set a Mets club record with four pinch hit HRs that season, hitting them all at home although none were walk off game winners.

In another May contest, his 9th inning sac fly won a game in Cincinnati. On June 14th his pinch hit HR tied a game at Shea Stadium against the Chicago Cubs. The Mets would win the game in the 11th inning, on Rusty Staub’s pinch hit RBI single. On October 2nd, Heep got the start & hit a first inning HR against the Montreal Expos, that was the only run scored in the game. On the year he got into a career high 115 games, hitting .253 with 8 HRs, 21 RBIs and 12 doubles in 253 at bats.

In 1984, Heep started out the year well & was batting .328 by late June. As the season went on he saw his average dropped to .231 with one HR, nine doubles & 12 RBIs. In the second game of the 1985 season, Heep drew a bases loaded pinch hit walk, off former Met Neil Allen, giving the Mets a win over the rival St. Lois Cardinals. He had a hot first week of June filling in at right field, hitting three HRs while driving in six runs on a west coast road trip. He improved his season average to .280, hanging around that level most of the season, with 7 HRs, 17 doubles and 42 RBIs, appearing in 95 games. 

That year he was involved in a violent outfield collision with rookie Terry Blocker on Banner Day at Shea Stadium, against the Cardinals. The play resulted in an inside-the-park grand slam HR. Heep recovered quickly to get back in the lineup. Later that season he was involved in some drama on a team flight, getting into a fist fight with Darryl Strawberry, actually beating him up pretty badly. All made nice, for the 1986 Mets championship season.

In 1986 Heep got the start in the third game of the Mets season. His third inning triple drove in Keith Hernandez & Gary Carter in Philadelphia, and turned out to be the winning runs in the eventual Mets 9-7 win. In the month of April he hit .368 with seven hits & 8 RBIs. He kept his average up through the middle of June once again, & was one of the league’s top pinch hitters. He would lead the club in pinch hitting, batting .300 (9-for-30) in that role. Overall he hit .289 on the year, with 5 HRs, 8 doubles, 33 RBIs & a .379 on base %.

Post Season: In the 1986 NLCS he appeared in five games, getting 4 pinch hit at bats with one hit. He drove in the only run against Mike Scott in Game #4 at Shea Stadium. In the World Series, 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 the Series he only got one hit but drove in two runs.

He was released by the Mets after the 1986 season and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers winning a World Series with them in 1988. He also got to pitch an inning that season, just like his early days at St. Mary’s. In 1989 Heep moved on to the Boston Red Sox, & had career highs in batting (.300) at-bats (320) hits (96) RBIs (49) & runs scored (36). He also pitched an inning there as well. In his time in the American League, he was Nolan Ryan’s 4000th strike out victim. Heep finished out his career in Atlanta in 1991, posting a career high .462 on base % while playing in just 14 games. He did not appear in the postseason.

In his 13 season career, Heep batted .257 lifetime, with 503 hits, 30 HRs, 96 doubles, 229 RBIs in 883 games played.

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

Family: Heep is the nephew of former MLB catcher Matt Batts, a fine defensive catcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Browns, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Redlegs between 1947 and 1956. In his 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.