Dave Hilton (baseball)

John David Hilton (September 15, 1950 – September 17, 2017) was a professional baseball player. He was picked in the 1971 Secondary Draft out of Rice University and played four seasons for the San Diego Padres. He also played three seasons in Japan for the Yakult Swallows and Hanshin Tigers. Hilton was primarily a third baseman, but played several games at second base.
Career.
Early in the 1975 season, Hilton contracted hepatitis which caused the San Diego Padres to announce he would be out indefinitely.
Hilton is credited by famed Japanese author Haruki Murakami as having inspired him, at the age of 29, to become an author. Murakami had his epiphany as he saw Hilton hit a double, while watching a Yakult Swallows game in Japan.
Hilton died September 17, 2017.