Kurt Ferdinand Krieger (September 16, 1926 – August 16, 1970), nicknamed "Dutch", was an Austrian-born American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player and right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who appeared in three

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

games for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

during the seasons of 1949 and 1951. Born in the town of Traisen, he was the first person born in post-1918 Austria, as of 2022, to play in the major leagues, although other MLB players were natives of the multiethnic 1867–1918 Austro-Hungarian Empire. Krieger was listed as tall and . A graduate of

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

, he entered pro baseball in the low minors at age 17 in 1944, then served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and missed the 1945 and 1946 seasons. When he resumed his baseball career in 1947, Krieger won 16 games for the

Lynchburg Cardinals Lynchburg is a toponym that may refer to: *Lynchburg, California *Lynchburg, Mississippi *Lynchburg, Missouri *Lynchburg, North Dakota *Lynchburg, Ohio (in Clinton and Highland counties) *Lynchburg, Columbiana County, Ohio *Lynchburg, South Carolina ...

of the Class B

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmont ...

. By 1949, he had worked his way onto the 28-man, early-season roster of the

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Cardinals. In his debut on April 21, he was called on in the ninth inning to finish a game at Crosley Field in which the Cardinals trailed the Cincinnati Reds 5–0. Although Krieger walked

Grady Hatton Grady Edgebert Hatton Jr. (October 7, 1922 – April 11, 2013) was an American professional baseball second baseman, third baseman, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds / Redlegs, Chicago White Sox, Bost ...

, the first hitter he faced, then threw a

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third str ...

, he retired the next three men and held Cincinnati off the scoreboard. After that contest, Krieger was returned to the minors, where he posted a stellar 17–5 won–lost record at Triple-A

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

in 1950. But when he returned to the Cardinals in 1951, he was treated harshly by the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants in his final two MLB appearances. In the majors, he worked in three games, all in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

; he did not earn a decision or a save, and ultimately allowed six hits, five bases on balls, and seven

earned run In baseball, an earned run is any run that was fully enabled by the offensive team's production in the face of competent play from the defensive team. Conversely, an unearned run is a run that would not have been scored without the aid of an erro ...

s in five innings pitched, with three strikeouts and an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 12.60. His minor league career continued into 1954. Kurt Krieger died in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

on August 16, 1970, at age 43, and was interred in

Affton, Missouri Affton is a census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States Census. Geography Affton is located at 38°33'4" North, 90°19'25" West (38.5510 ...

, in Sunset Memorial Park.

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1926 births 1970 deaths Austrian emigrants to the United States Baseball players from St. Louis Columbus Red Birds players Houston Buffaloes players Lima Red Birds players Lynchburg Cardinals players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Austria People from Lower Austria Rochester Red Wings players St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Chiefs players Terre Haute Phillies players United States Army personnel of World War II Washington University Bears baseball players {{Baseball-pitcher-stub