A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis,[2] he entered pro baseball in the low minors at age 17 in 1944, then served in the United States Army during World War II,[3] and missed the 1945 and 1946 seasons.

When he resumed his baseball career in 1947, Krieger won 16 games for the Lynchburg Cardinals of the Class B Piedmont League.

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, the first hitter he faced, then threw a wild pitch, he retired the next three men and held Cincinnati off the scoreboard.

Kurt Krieger died in St. Louis on August 16, 1970, at age 43, and was interred in Affton, Missouri, in Sunset Memorial Park.