Danny Heep

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Danny Heep

|image=Houston Colon.jpg

|position=Outfielder

|bats=Left

|throws=Left

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1957|7|3}}

|birth_place=San Antonio, Texas, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=August 31

|debutyear=1979

|debutteam=Houston Astros

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=June 8

|finalyear=1991

|finalteam=Atlanta Braves

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Batting average

|stat1value=.257

|stat2label=Home runs

|stat2value=30

|stat3label=Runs batted in

|stat3value=229

|teams=

Houston Astros ({{mlby|1979}}–{{mlby|1982}})
New York Mets ({{mlby|1983}}–{{mlby|1986}})
Los Angeles Dodgers ({{mlby|1987}}–{{mlby|1988}})
Boston Red Sox ({{mlby|1989}}–{{mlby|1990}})
Atlanta Braves ({{mlby|1991}})

|highlights=

2× World Series champion ({{wsy|1986}}, {{wsy|1988}})

}}

Daniel William Heep (born July 3, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder.

Heep, who batted and threw left-handed, 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 compiled a .331 batting average, 23 home runs and 108 runs batted in (RBI) 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, {{baseball year|1979}} against the New York Mets.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN197909300.shtml|title=Houston Astros 2, New York Mets 0|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com|date=August 31, 1979}} He remained with the Astros through the end of the season, achieving a .143 average with two runs batted in. The second RBI was a game winner against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 30.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN197909300.shtml|title=Houston Astros 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2|publisher=Baseball-Reference.com|date=September 30, 1979}} He was the Pacific Coast League batting champion with a .343 average with the Tucson Toros in 1980.[https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/12/10/The-New-York-Mets-traded-pitcher-Mike-Scott-to/8112408344400/ "The New York Mets traded pitcher Mike Scott to...," United Press International (UPI), Friday, December 10, 1982.] Retrieved February 3, 2023.

After hitting .237 with four home runs and 22 RBI in 85 games with the Astros in 1982, he was acquired by the New York Mets for Mike Scott at the Winter Meetings on December 10.

Danny Heep was the 4,000th strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan, on July 11, 1985.

NCAA coach

Heep was the head coach for the NCAA Incarnate Word Cardinals in San Antonio from 1998–2017. During his tenure as head coach, the program won two conference tournament and three conferece regular-season championships. In 2014, Incarnate Word 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.

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Incarnate Word

| conference= Heart of Texas Conference – DII

| startyear = 1998

| endyear = 1999

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1998

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 33-17

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 1999

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 30-22

| conference = 12-8

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Incarnate Word

| conference= Heartland Conference – DII

| startyear = 2000

| endyear = 2010

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2000

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 20-28

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference tournament

| season = 2001

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 35-21

| conference = 12-4

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2002

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 31-24

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2003

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 30-27

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2004

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 41-17

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2005

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 35-19

| conference =

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2006

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 38-21

| conference =

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2007

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 34-21

| conference =

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2008

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 39-17

| conference = 35-15

| confstanding = 2nd

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2009

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 36-17

| conference = 32-14

| confstanding =

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference tournament

| season = 2010

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 42-18

| conference = 34-13

| confstanding = 2nd

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Incarnate Word

| conference= Lone Star Conference – DII

| startyear = 2011

| endyear = 2013

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship = conference

| season = 2011

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 37-18

| conference = 24-9

| confstanding = 1st

| postseason = NCAA Regional

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2012

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 23-21

| conference = 16-11

| confstanding = 3rd

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2013

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 26-26

| conference = 12-16

| confstanding = 6th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name = Incarnate Word

| conference= Southland Conference – DI

| startyear = 2014

| endyear = 2017

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2014

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 18-32

| conference = 9-15

| confstanding = 11th

| postseason = ineligible

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2015

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 21-33

| conference = 11-19

| confstanding = 11th

| postseason = ineligible

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2016

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 13-38

| conference = 5-22

| confstanding = 13th

| postseason = ineligible

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2017

| name = Incarnate Word

| overall = 20-36

| conference = 8-22

| confstanding = 12th

| postseason = ineligible

}}

{{CBB yearly record subtotal

| name = Incarnate Word (Div. I)

| overall = 72-139

| confrecord = 33-78

}}

{{CBB yearly record end

| overall = 601-473

}}

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

[http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/baseball/coaches.html Article] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627225157/http://www.uiw.edu/athletics/baseball/coaches.html |date=2006-06-27 }} – from University of the Incarnate Word's official website.
Interview with Danny on Blog Talk Radio. [http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Gotham-Sports-Radio/2008/02/19/Danny-Heep]
New York Times Article on Heep's collision with Terry Blocker. [https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/10/sports/mets-and-cardinals-split.html]