1974 Topps #148 Dave Hilton
About Dave Hilton
Hilton was the Padres' Opening Day third baseman in 1974 and was sent back to Hawaii on May 13. He split the season between San Diego and Hawaii, 74 games each, hitting .240 for the Padres and .328 for the Islanders and making the Pacific Coast League All-Star team. His #148 is one of fifteen Padres cards Topps printed with "Washington Nat'l Lea." as a hedge against a rumored move to Washington. Ray Kroc bought the club in January 1974 and kept it in San Diego, and the San Diego printing is the common one.
John David Hilton, who played as Dave, was a third and second baseman with the San Diego Padres from 1972 to 1975, appearing in 161 games. The Padres made him the first pick of the January 1971 draft after he left Rice University for a junior college to become eligible. In 1972 he hit .315 with 16 home runs for Alexandria and was named the Texas League's Player of the Year. He made his San Diego debut on September 10 with a single off Ron Reed. His major league line was .213 with six home runs. Infectious hepatitis from spoiled seafood sidelined him on the first road trip of 1975, and an April 27 doubleheader in San Diego was his last major league action. Hilton later spent about two and a half seasons in Japan with the Yakult Swallows and Hanshin Tigers and won a championship with Yakult. The writer Haruki Murakami has credited a double Hilton hit for Yakult in 1978 with inspiring him, at 29, to become an author. Hilton later managed, coached and instructed for two decades, including two years as Milwaukee's first-base coach, and died in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2017 at age 67.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Print variations
Two states of #148 are tracked individually: 148a - San Diego (Corrected) and 148b - Washington Nat'l Lea. The difference is on the front of the card (error correction).
States catalogued by the PSA master set registry and the Trading Card Database; each is tracked here individually.
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Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 148a - San Diego (Corrected) | |||||||||
| PSA | 195 | 7 | 62 | 106 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| SGC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 148b - Washington Nat'l Lea. | |||||||||
| PSA | 327 | 2 | 38 | 166 | 80 | 25 | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| SGC | 21 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. Where a grader registers a variation separately its population is listed under that variation.
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Related cards
Team card: #226 San Diego Padres
More San Diego Padres cards:
- #32 John Grubb
- #53 Fred Kendall
- #77 Rich Troedson
- #102 Bill Greif
- #125 Nate Colbert
- #173 Randy Jones
- #197 Vicente Romo
- #241 Glenn Beckert
- #250 Willie McCovey
- #309 Dave Roberts
- #364 Clarence Gaston
- #387 Rich Morales
- #406 Steve Arlin
- #430 Matty Alou
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1974 Topps #148 card?
It is card #148 of the 660-card 1974 Topps Baseball set, picturing Dave Hilton of the San Diego Padres.
Does 1974 Topps #148 have variations?
Yes. Two states are catalogued and tracked individually: 148a - San Diego (Corrected) (The front carries the San Diego team name - the reprint Topps made once the Padres stayed in San Diego, and the common state of the pair) and 148b - Washington Nat'l Lea. (The front names the team "Washington Nat'l Lea." - the first printing, made while the Padres looked set to move to Washington, D.C., and the scarcer state of the pair). Owning any one of them fills the #148 slot; the master set counts each state.
How many cards are in the 1974 Topps Baseball set?
660 cards, tracked as 678 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 660 with none skipped, issued all at once as a single series and printed in equal quantities; 17 cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - fourteen San Diego / "Washington Nat'l Lea." pairs (thirteen Padres player cards and the #226 team card), the three-state #599 Rookie Pitchers, the #608 Apodaco misspelling and the #654 Jesus Alou front without a position.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, BaseballCardPedia, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-25.