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Former San Diego Padres' First-Round Pick and Olympic Champion Dies at Age of 43

In a tragic incident, former San Diego Padres' first-round pick and Olympic champion Sean Burroughs collapsed while coaching his son's Little League team on Thursday. He died at the age of 43.

Brady Farkas

May 30, 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Sean Burroughs.
May 30, 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks infielder Sean Burroughs. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In a tragic incident, former San Diego Padres' first-round pick Sean Burroughs collapsed and died on Thursday at the age of 43.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today had the news on social media, although he had his age of death just wrong. He wasn't slated to turn 44 until September.

Former MLB Infielder Sean Burroughs, the former first-round draft pick who played parts of seven MLB seasons, collapsed and died Thursday while coaching his son's Little League team. He was just 44.

First and foremost, our condolences go out to his family, which includes his father Jeff Burroughs, who was the 1974 American League MVP with the Texas Rangers.

Sean Burroughs was selected by the Padres in the first round of the 1998 MLB Draft out of the California high school ranks. He was selected 9th overall and made his Major League debut with the Padres in 2002 at the age of 2021.

Burroughs became a true regular for the Padres in the 2003 season, hitting .286 over 146 games that season. He was a lifetime .278 hitter who also hit 12 career homers and had 12 career triples. He also had an impactful season with the Padres in 2004, hitting .298 over 130 games.

After four seasons in San Diego, he spent one year with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Minnesota Twins. After his tenure with the Rays ended in 2006, he didn't appear in another Major League game until 2011, certainly showing some impressive perseverance in the wake of personal issues.

In addition to his big league career, Burroughs was also a member of the 2000 USA Olympic team which captured a Gold Medal in Sydney.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.