Sean Burroughs Dies at 43: Long Beach Baseball Icon is No More

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On Thursday, May 9, before going to coach his son’s Little League game, Sean Burroughs, a 2000 Olympic gold winner and first-round choice in the MLB draft, passed away. He was forty-three.

The baseball youngster “tragically passed away” on Thursday afternoon, As per a statement from the California Long Beach Little League posted on Instagram. Heart arrest was stated as the cause of death by Burroughs’ mother, Debbie, to the Southern California News Group, according to ESPN.

Sean Burroughs Cause of Death:

Sean Burroughs, a well-known baseball player who spent seven seasons in the major leagues and led the Long Beach All-Stars to back-to-back Little League World Series championships, passed away on Thursday. His age was forty-three.

Doug Wittman, president of Long Beach Little League, verified Burroughs’ passing. Burroughs’ mother, Debbie, sent a text message to the Southern California News Group stating that her son had died from cardiac arrest.

Wittman claims that Burroughs was discovered unconscious next to his vehicle in the Long Beach parking lot at Stearns Champions Park following his Little League game drop-off of his 6-year-old son, Knox. After receiving CPR, Burroughs did not respond. When firefighters from the Long Beach Fire Department responded to 9-1-1 calls, Burroughs was already declared deceased.

Wittman described it as “extremely shocking.” “At Long Beach Little League, there is a genuine feeling of family. Thus, it is painful when we lose one of our own.

According to a statement released by Long Beach Little League on Instagram, Burroughs passed away early on Friday.

Burroughs supported his son’s squad as an assistant coach. Others grew worried when he failed to show up for the game and began looking for him; that’s how he was discovered.

Who Was Sean Burroughs? And His Professional Life

Before beginning his Major League baseball career, Burroughs was among history’s most accomplished amateur baseball players. Sean Burroughs, the son of Jeff Burroughs, the 1974 American League Most Valuable Player, was a strong pitcher and bat for the Long Beach teams that won the League World Series in 1992 and 1993. When he was twelve, he pitched back-to-back no-hitters in the LLWS and appeared on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

He kept up his impressive play at Long Beach Wilson High, and in 1998, the San Diego Padres selected him ninth overall. In 2000, he competed for the USA Baseball National Team and earned an Olympic gold medal. In 2002, he made his main league debut with the Padres.

When Burroughs was moved to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006, he was a.282 hitter with just 11 home runs in four seasons as the Padres starting third baseman. In his eight games with Tampa Bay, he only batted.190 and was cut.

Before quitting baseball, he participated in four games with the Triple-A affiliate of the Mariners in 2007.

In a 2011 interview, Burroughs disclosed to ESPN’s Jim Caple that he battled drug and alcohol addiction in his later seasons.

Burroughs told ESPN, “I was hanging out with some bad people and had done some bad things.” “My last few years playing ball and the previous couple of years were more significant than anything else.”

He said, “I was kind of like a garbage can.” “I would locate and steal anything I needed or had. I was not the kind of man to go out of town. I would identify whatever I needed or had and take it. All I would do was attempt to overindulge in drugs, whether they were obtained legally or not.

Burroughs returned to the major leagues after three years of sobriety and residing in Las Vegas. He played in 10 games with the Minnesota Twins in 2012 and 78 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011. In 2013, he participated in 53 games as a Dodgers Double-A affiliate in Chattanooga. From 2014 to 2017, he played in the independent Atlantic League to conclude his career.

According to his LinkedIn page, Burroughs started working as a security supervisor for Allied Universal in 2018 after receiving his EMT certificate.

In addition, he actively coached his son in Little League on Long Beach—the very league that had made him famous thirty years before.

“Whitman described him as a legend from Long Beach.” “.. Since our children play on the same team, I’ve had the honor of coaching alongside him for several years, and he was a pleasure to be around. Always happy and cheerful. (He) gave young athletes a new perspective. It merely keeps the kids entertained. He puts a better perspective on things and makes things fun and loose for the kids in a world where child sports are very competitive, which was terrific.

Burroughs leaves behind his father, Jeff, his mother, Debbie, and son Knox.

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