Elizabeth Mahon

Mahon continued to live in South Bend, where she died at the age of 81. Her final honor came posthumously, when she was inducted into the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame on May 5, 2005. Mahon is one of only two South Carolina natives to play in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the other being her longtime friend Viola Thompson, who had been inducted in the SCAHOF in 1998.

Mahon quit playing during the 1952 season, but did not return to South Carolina. By then the AAGPBL had begun to go downhill as interest in the novelty of top-flight women's baseball was losing its luster, and baseball, in general, was beginning to fall in hardest times as well as the salaries, forcing club owners could get players to play at their clubs for relatively cheap. Then, Mahon accepted a well remunerated teaching position in the public school system of South Bend, Indiana. After earning a master's degree at Indiana University, in 1960, she remained as a teacher and later a guidance counselor until her retirement in 1981.

In 1946, Mahon hit .276 for the sixth best batting average and led the batters with 72 runs batted in. She also was credited for stealing 114 bases out of 116 attempts, but for most of the time, Mahon was the cleanup hitter for the Blue Sox. She helped her team to clinch the regular pennant in 1951, after leading the league with 60 RBI while hitting .269. She also showed her offensive consistency by driving in 68 runs (second) in 1951 and 65 (third) in 1948.

Mahon spent a total of nine seasons in the league. Along the way, she was chosen for the AAGPBL All Star team on two occasions (1946, 1949), and posted a career batting average of .248 (721-for-2903), including 432 runs and 400 RBI in 837 game appearances. Her 400 RBI ties her with Pepper Paire for fourth best in the AAGPBL's all-time list, behind Dorothy Schroeder (431), Inez Voyce (422) and Eleanor Callow (407).

Mahon was assigned to the Minneapolis Millerettes, a helpless and unfortunate franchise that did not last long in the league. She eventually was spotted by Kenosha Comets manager Marty McManus, who traded three players for her during the midseason. Mahon played at outfield and took an occasional turn at one of the infield spots, but she was especially noted by her hitting ability. In her first season, she hit .211 with 38 runs batted in and a career-high three home runs in 107 games. She quickly established herself as a solid player and assured a return for the 1945 season. That year, McManus joined the South Bend Blue Sox and traded for her again. Mahon responded with a hitting streak which spanned 13 games, tying an all-time record set by Rockford Peaches' Mildred Warwick in 1943.

While at college, Mahon started a close friendship with Viola Thompson, a talented fastpitch softball pitcher with the same passion for baseball. Eventually, Mahon played softball in Greenville on the same team with Thompson. In the same year, a talent scout offered Mahon and Thompson an invitation to come to the newly founded All-American Girls Professional Baseball League tryouts, which were to be held at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. With the prospect of making the $60 per week that was being paid to the members of the established teams, which was a vast sum of money back then, the two Greenville girls decided to try their hand in the new league. Both Mahon and Thompson managed to win full-time jobs in the AAGPBL for the 1944 season.

Mahon continued to work at her boring mill job following her graduation in 1937, until an aunt offered to pay her a college education at Winthrop College. Mahon accepted the generous proposition and began her freshman year on the campus in 1938. She finished college in 1942 with a degree in physical education, and spent one year in Whitmire, South Carolina, teaching all subjects to a class of seventh graders. She returned to Greenville in 1944 and took a job in the U.S. Post Office.

Elizabeth B. Mahon (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.