Inside The Padres

Former Padres First-Round Draft Pick Dies Unexpectedly at 43

The infielder spent four seasons in San Diego after rising to fame as a youth.

Maren Angus-Coombs

Sep 20, 2005; Denver, CO, USA; San Diego Padres Sean Burroughs pitches in the eighth inning against
Sep 20, 2005; Denver, CO, USA; San Diego Padres Sean Burroughs pitches in the eighth inning against / Byron Hetzler-USA TODAY Sports
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According to multiple reports, Sean Burroughs, a veteran of seven major league seasons who spent four years with the San Diego Padres, died Wednesday. He was 43.

Burroughs was coaching his son’s Little League team when he collapsed and died, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale:

Burroughs was a celebrated baseball standout from Long Beach, Calif., where he won back-to-back Little League World Series titles with the Long Beach All-Stars. He starred as a pitcher and a hitter for the team in 1992 and 1993. One of his early moments of fame came when he threw back-to-back no-hitters in the LLWS as a 12-year-old and appeared on “The Late Show With David Letterman.”


He continued his dominance at Long Beach Wilson High School, from which he was selected ninth overall by the San Diego Padres in the 1998 draft. He won an Olympic gold medal as a USA Baseball National Team member at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and made his major-league debut with the Padres in 2002.

Burroughs hit .282 with 11 home runs in four seasons as the Padres’ starting third baseman before he was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006. As a result of a leg injury he sustained while with the Padres, Burroughs was out of baseball from 2008-10, a period during which he struggled with sobriety. He spent three years living in Las Vegas before getting clean and making a comeback with the National League West champion Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 and 10 games with the Minnesota Twins in 2012.

Inside the Padres sends its condolences to Burroughs’ family and friends.

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Maren Angus-Coombs

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite being raised in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer for the LA Sports Report Network.