Elizabeth Mahon
| Elizabeth Mahon | |||
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| Outfield/Second base | |||
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Born: November 18, 1919 Greenville, South Carolina |
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Died: September 6, 2001 (aged 81) South Bend, Indiana |
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Elizabeth B. Mahon [″Lib″] (November 18, 1919 – September 6, 2001) was an American outfielder who played from 1944 through 1954 in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. Listed at 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m), 135 lb., Mahon batted and threw right-handed. She was born in Greenville, South Carolina.
Lib Mahon was one of six children of David Mahon and Pearl Mahon. Her father and older brother were avid baseball fans, while her younger brother played sandlot ball and her three sisters handled most of the chores around home. At age of twelve, Mahon and her older sisters played for a local basketball team sponsored by the Brandon Cotton Mill, where their father worked as a truck driver. She also played intramural sports at Parker High, including fastpitch softball, field hockey and soccer.
Mahon proved herself to be one of the most competent ballplayers in AAGPBL history. On a very early age, she got used to play ball with her brothers in Greenville brownfields. She not only learned how to play the games, but also gained self-confidence by setting and reaching goals, self-esteem by continual growth, and respect for others and themselves. Lil, who grew up in a mill village located directly across the street from the Brandon Mills, was among the most talented of those who ever played on the improvised baseball diamonds that were usually the property of one of the area's many textile mills. It was not easy for a female ball player to hone her diamond skills in the thirties, because the high schools did offer athletic programs for female student, and the girls who liked baseball could often be seen playing with the boys.
Part of a modest and big family, Mahon decided to take a job in a cotton mill while completing her senior year in high school. Even though life at the mill meant 55-hour weeks for those who were considered full-time employers, girls' athletic teams usually were made up of employers who held jobs at their respective plants, as the games were played on weekends, though an occasional weekday game came (into the picture) from time to time. While it was common the practice for men's mills teams to put talented ball players on the local payroll to shore up the strength of their lineup, the girls just played for fun. Despite being one of the better players around the Greenville area, Mahon never received payment for playing on any of these teams.
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