Born November 18, 1919, in Greenville, SC, Elizabeth ˜Lib' Mahon very early on demonstrated
the athletic prowess that was to make her an all-star with the All-American Girls
Professional Baseball League. She was playing for a women's basketball team before
she even reached her teens and during her junior and senior years in high school she
joined a women's fast-pitch softball team.
In 1938, a year after graduating from high school, Lib was able to attend Winthrop
when an aunt offered to pay the tuition. She excelled in both academics and athletics
during her 4 years at the college. Majoring in physical education with minors in science
and English, Lib played basketball, softball, and field hockey. She also assumed a
leadership role, serving as a member of the student senate and manager of the freshman
basketball team and captain of the sophomore hockey team. During her junior year,
she was a captain of the hockey and basketball teams and treasurer of the Athletic
Association. Her senior year saw her selected as one of three "Best All Around" students
by the Winthrop Board of Trustees for her athletic accomplishments and campus leadership.
Lib taught for a year after graduation before going to work at the Greenville post
office. She continued to play fast-pitch softball during this period. Her outstanding
play brought her to the attention of the manager of the minor league Greenville Spinners,
who encouraged her to try out for the fledgling All-American Girls Professional Baseball
League (subject of the 1992 feature film, A League of Their Own). In early 1944, she
traveled to LaSalle-Peru, Illinois, for 10 days of spring training. Lib made the cut
and played that first year for the Minneapolis Millerettes and the Kenosha Comets.
The following year she was traded to the South Bend Blue Sox, where she would remain
until her retirement at the end of the 1952 season.
Lib was one of the premier players in the League. Playing mainly outfield with some
time at second base, she was twice selected to the League's all-star team (1946 and
1949). In 1946 she lead the League in RBI's with 72 and in 1949 repeated as League
RBI leader with 60. Her 400 career RBI's tied her for fourth place in League history.
She was also a key member of the 1951 League champion South Bend Blue Sox. Her career
.248 batting average, 721 hits, 364 stolen bases, and 432 runs scored put her in the
top tier of all League players.
Lib began teaching physical education in the South Bend public schools while she played
for the Blue Sox. She continued to teach in South Bend upon leaving the League in
1952. In 1960 she became a guidance counselor after completing a master's degree from
the University of Indiana, a position she held until her retirement in 1981. This
stellar teacher and athlete passed away on September 6, 2001. In 2005 she was inducted
into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.
In a 1997 interview, Lib acknowledged the importance of her years at Winthrop. "Thank
God for a college education and for the opportunity to play ball, too. That changed
my life completely."