Kiger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Altamont area of

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

, United States. Construction began in late 1947 at the Crest Street site of Kiger Stadium, with a goal of opening in Spring 1948 for the Class D Klamath Falls Gems, the Far West League farm team of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. The stadium was built by Klamath Baseball, Inc. and paid for by the sale of stock to local citizens. The opening, and the original Gems, were a huge success, as the team led the league in attendance in three of the four years they were in the League, and won the Far West League's final Championship before the league folded after the 1951 season. Since those days, the venerable stadium has stood against weather and other obstacles to become one of only two remaining all-wood stadiums in North America. Historic Kiger Stadium has hosted thousands of amateur baseball games, from Little League through

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States, U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It comprises U.S. state, state, Territories of the United States, U.S. terr ...

through a semi-pro incarnation of the Gems, through the years. In 1968 the ballpark hosted the Babe Ruth World Series, and in 1970 the

Championships. For a time in the 1950s, Kiger Stadium was even turned into an auto racing track. Through the years Kiger has seen it all, and in 2011 welcomed the new Klamath Falls Gems of the

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

. The Gems gave

Klamath Basin The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, ...

families another reason to visit Kiger Stadium, and the success of the Gems and the WCL were to have brought many improvements to Kiger without losing the charm of the original park. (The Gems last played in the

Great West League Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

.) In 2014 the Klamath Falls Gems, had planned minor improvements to Kiger Stadium, such as making the restrooms ADA accessible, and painting the outfield wall, the stadium facades, and stadium bleachers.

Names that played at Kiger Stadium

* Dick Young *

Don Ferrarese Donald Hugh Ferrarese (June 19, 1929 – November 4, 2024) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Lo ...

* Niles Jordan * Bob Bowman * Troy Herriage *

Bert Convy Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy (July 23, 1933 – July 15, 1991) was an American actor, singer, game-show panelist, and host known for ''Tattletales'', '' Super Password'', and '' Win, Lose or Draw''. Early life Convy was born in St. Louis, Mi ...

References

{{reflist Baseball venues in Oregon 1948 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Klamath County, Oregon Sports venues completed in 1948 Minor league baseball venues

Names that played at Kiger Stadium

See also

References