Miller Field

Pictured here are the stands at Miller Field, which from 1937 until 1955 stood on the southwest corner of 18th and Triplett Streets in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Home plate was oriented to the northeast.

Miller Field was widely regarded as the showplace of the Class D Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee — or Kitty — League, a minor league baseball circuit that had six “lives” starting in 1903, with its last and longest life coinciding with the life of Miller Field and running from 1935 until 1955.

The field also was home to one of the Kitty League’s most legendary teams, the Owensboro Oilers.

According to Joshua R. Maxwell and Kevin D. McCann, the co-authors of “The Kitty League” (Images of Baseball series) (Arcadia Publishing, 2012):

“A month before opening day in 1937, local oil producer Julius C. Miller helped raise $16,000 to build a ballpark for the Owensboro Oilers at Eighteenth and Triplett Streets. Work progressed for 26 days and nights before the first game was played on May 20. Originally called Owensboro Recreational Corporation (OCR) Field, it was renamed Miller Field to honor the club president at the end of the season.”

Legendary Owensboro radio broadcaster and WaxWorks founder LeRoy Woodward (1913-1986) — who in 1937, while still in his early 20s, was the Owensboro Oilers’ business manager — remembers that when the Kitty League briefly disbanded during World War II, Miller Field was sold “at the courthouse door” to James C. Ellis, Roy Burlew, and Frank Randall for $9,000 ($3,000 apiece).

After the Kitty League folded in 1955, Miller Field was demolished on September 19 of the same year. Ellis, Woodward recalls, who sold the field to Gabe Fiorella, Sr., and his fellow investors, paved the way for the opening of Gabe’s Restaurant and Gabe’s Shopping Center in 1959.

Park Details

Capacity: 5,000 (1938); 4,000 (1941); 3,300 (1949); 3,500 (1950)

Dimensions: 320-365-320 (Left, Center, Right) in 1938

The park had a steel grandstand with bleacher sections down both baselines. The catcher faced NE. The park was located in a residential area, and accommodated cars in lots in RF and adjacent to the LF corner. Sweeney Street dead ended at the park.

Used by: Owensboro Oilers

Pictured here are the stands at Miller Field, which from 1937 until 1955 stood on the southwest corner of 18th and Triplett Streets in Owensboro, Kentucky.

Black and white photograph of an Owensboro Oiler player throwing a pitch at Miller field in Owensboro, Kentucky. The scoreboard can be seen in the background. Player is possibly Dick Fischer.