In the spring of 1938, a remarkable story began in Chicago, when Mel Thillens woke up to find his younger brother, Ferdy Thillens, standing next to his bed, urgently requesting a place to play softball.
This request would mark the beginning of what would become Thillens Stadium, a cherished community sports venue that brought joy to thousands of children and adults alike in the city.
As Mel Thillens recalled in an interview with a Tribune reporter, they simply put a plate in a prairie, and it grew from there.
‘Prairie’ was Chicagoese for an empty lot, in this case referring to a substantial piece of land situated north of Kedzie and Devon avenues, where dreams of young athletes flourished.
Under Mel’s stewardship, the home plate was transformed into a full-fledged stadium that he took great pride in.
A successful currency exchange owner, Thillens invested around $6 million in the construction of the stadium.
By 1991, the maintenance costs had escalated to more than $100,000 a year, but Mel remained committed to creating the best experience possible for players and fans alike.
Prominently displayed in front of the stadium was a giant baseball bearing the name ‘Thillens’ perched atop a 300-foot pole.
The playing field itself was covered with 51,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass, under which a network of 2,000 feet of pipe ensured proper drainage.
The stadium was equipped with lights for night games, and in the 1950s, WGN-TV broadcasted some games, with jack Brickhouse, the iconic Cubs announcer, providing commentary from the stadium’s microphone on Wednesdays.
In 1951, Mel Thillens pioneered Little League in Chicago, and soon after, the city’s top men’s and women’s softball teams competed in the stadium.
Thillens’ son, also named Mel, articulated the significance of the stadium’s impact on kids, stating, ‘All kids aspire to be major league ballplayers, and this is the closest most of them are going to get.’
The philosophy was always about making the experience as professional as possible, enriching the lives of those who played there.
Ira Berkow, a renowned sports columnist and a boy from Chicago’s West Side, also found his footing at Thillens Stadium, where he played baseball and, despite striking out once, made a base hit that earned him a brief moment of fame on television.
Unbeknownst to him, his colorful language during the game would be captured on camera, prompting a heartbreaking reaction from his mother when he returned home.
Mel Thillens was not only a businessman; he was inventive and forward-thinking.
Operating a currency exchange at 2351 Devon Ave., Thillens first ventured into the business when he realized that workers digging the North Shore Channel nearby needed a place to cash their paychecks.
During the Great Depression, when banks were failing, his currency exchange thrived, particularly when he cleverly anticipated the needs of the workers.
When the construction project moved on and customers dwindled, Thillens adapted by purchasing an armored truck and converting it into a check-cashing service.
He successfully partnered with a local printing company, becoming a fixture at their plant during payday.
On the venture’s first day, only 12 printers cashed checks, but word spread, and on the subsequent payday, the armored truck was inundated with business.
By 1950, Thillens had a fleet of 20 armored trucks servicing over 100,000 workers at various factories across the city.
As a nod to his entrepreneurial spirit and the fun of baseball, a two-dimensional Thillens truck found its place atop the stadium scoreboard.
Players who managed to hit the truck with a ball were rewarded with a $5,000 savings bond, though only three players ever accomplished this feat.
In its early years, tryouts for Thillens’ pioneering Little League attracted an astonishing 10,000 boys competing for just four available spots on teams.
During the inaugural season in 1951, 500 of the 700 scheduled games took place at Thillens Stadium, showcasing the fierce competition among Little League teams.
Thillens’ teams even made it to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, finishing second and third in consecutive years.
To maintain competitive fairness, Little League eventually imposed a decree limiting teams to recruit from specific neighborhoods, prompting Thillens to establish his own league, the Thillens Boys Major League.
This league allowed players to don the authentic uniforms of major league teams like the Cubs, White Sox, Yankees, and Phillies, drawing immense excitement from the children involved.
‘We were the first doing anything like that,’ the elder Thillens remarked in reflection of his league’s innovative approach.
Thillens Stadium also became a central hub for women’s professional softball leagues during the 1950s, showcasing the talent and athleticism of female players who earned comfortable salaries through the sport.
Vivian Bates, who would later become a chiropractor, nostalgically recalled, ‘I made more money playing ball than I do now.’
For Shirley Angel, the opportunity to play with the Thillens Checashers under lights in the National Girls Baseball League was not merely a career choice but a way to balance work and motherhood.
Events of various kinds took place at Thillens Stadium, including unexpected competitions.
In 1996, a youth worker assembled a team of recent immigrants from Bosnia and Ethiopia, playfully dubbed the Bosnopians, to compete against a local group called the Uptown Native Americans.
Despite the Bosnopians’ inexperience leading to a lopsided score, the day ended on a positive note as both teams shared hugs and a picnic lunch in the stands.
In addition to fostering sports, Thillens made the stadium accessible to charitable organizations, advertising in the Tribune that groups could use the space for fundraising events without incurring any fees.
Memorable matchups featured WGN-TV staff challenging the Playboy Bunnies, while Chicago firefighters took on police officers, with the winner advancing to face a team from WMAQ in an exciting follow-up game.
Mel Thillens passed away in 1993, and an obituary captured some of his early adventures in the currency exchange business, including a harrowing kidnapping at age 16 and a robber hold-up during his time at the Prudential Realty Currency Exchange.
Showing resilience, he ultimately acquired the currency exchange where he had worked, putting his name on it and building a legacy that would extend to the community through Thillens Stadium.
In 2005, the Thillens family transferred ownership of the stadium to the Chicago Park District along with an endowment for its upkeep.
However, as years went by, the stadium fell into disrepair, prompting the family to request the removal of Thillens’ name from the facility in 2013.
‘We were constantly pleading with them to maintain it,’ Mel Thillens, the founder’s son, lamented.
‘It was terrible how it looked,’ he added, reflecting on the decline of a place that had once been a vital component of the Chicago community.
As the story of Thillens Stadium unfolds, it serves as a powerful reminder of the impact one individual can have on a community and the importance of nurturing spaces that bring people together through the spirit of sport.
image source from：https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/04/13/little-league-baseball-softball-thillens-stadium-devon-kedzie/
