Mel Hornsby is the coach of the Santa Barbara Seabirds and a long-time friend/mentor of Shawn. Shawn was the ball boy for the Seabirds in 1991. In 2011, his long time hitting coach drops dead under mysterious circumstances, so he hires Shawn and Gus. He is portrayed by Danny Glover.
Character Biography[]
Dead Man's Curveball[]
In "Dead Man's Curve Ball", it is revealed that Shawn used to be the ball boy for the Seabirds in 1991. Twenty years later, Mel sees the end of Shawn's softball game, after he costs his team the game by trying to get a homerun. Mel then hires Shawn and Gus to investigate his hitting coach Grady's mysterious death.
To hide their identities, Mel hires Shawn as the new hitting coach, and Gus as the new mascot. Gus finds out that Grady died from greenies, a.k.a. amphetamines (performance enhancing drugs), from prospect Izzy Jackson's water bottle, and that Izzy tested negative for greenies. After Izzy shows up two hours late to a game hung over, Mel starts Shawn's childhood hero and longtime player Cal Eason starts over Izzy. The General Manager of the Seabirds Neil Stillman arrives and demands Mel start Izzy because scouts are there. Izzy gets put out, but Shawn accidentally starts a bench-clearing brawl, drawing in Seabirds players and Gus.
After the game Mel yells at the team, but Izzy leaves so Mel goes after him. Neil comes in and fires Shawn, replacing him with Wade Boggs. Shawn and Gus go to find Mel, but discover Izzy dead instead. Mel is arrested for this, but protests his innocence. The cops tell him there were greenies found at his house, but he says they aren't his. After Woody's demonstration of how Mel is a left handed hitter, so he couldn't have made that wound, Shawn and Gus are convinced of his innocence. Shawn realizes who the real killer is just when he takes Gus hostage - it's Neil! Neil takes Shawn and Gus to the field, however Cal arrives to save them, then Wade Boggs shows up, so Neil runs and is stopped cold by Henry.
Shawn then is hitting at Seabird Stadium. He asks Mel if he can play second base, but Mel refuses. They then make a deal - if Shawn can hit a homerun then he can start at second. Shawn hits it, and it is a foul. Mel says Shawn's just not good enough and walks away with Wade.