The Long Beach baseball world and the Long Beach Little League community are in shock and mourning after the sudden passing of local legend Sean Burroughs last night at Stearns Champions Park. Burroughs was a Little League World Series champ, Olympic gold medalist, Wilson Bruin, and MLB player, who passed away at the age of 43 after a sudden cardiac arrest.
Burroughs was a coach at the league that made him a star, and was at the field to coach a game with his son’s team.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this message to inform you that yesterday afternoon one of our coaches, Sean Burroughs, tragically passed away,” Long Beach Little League president Doug Wittman wrote in a message to Long Beach Little League parents. “I have had the privilege of coaching with Sean for the past two years and he always came with a fun and friendly attitude the kids were drawn to, a wealth of baseball knowledge that could get any kid out of a batting rut and humility worth emulating. To say this is a huge loss is an understatement.”
Burroughs earned fame young, as the star pitcher on the 1992 and 93 Long Beach Little League World Series champions. He was the first American-born pitcher to throw back-to-back no-hitters in the LLWS, bringing home a pair of World Series titles to his baseball-crazy hometown. Burroughs threw three consecutive no-hitters in 1993 including two in the World Series, and batted .563 in Williamsport. In four years at LBLL, Burroughs didn’t lose a game as a pitcher, and in 74 innings of All-Star play in 1993, he struck out 171 batters and posted an ERA of 0.49.
Burroughs’ father, former Major Leaguer Jeff Burroughs, was the coach of the ‘92 and ‘93 World Series champs that inspired so many baseball youngsters in Long Beach. Burroughs was an American League MVP and MLB star who helped lead Long Beach to championship glory. In the book about the World Series champs that he co-wrote with Tom Hennessy, The Little Team That Could, Burroughs wrote, “I think I’m better known now for being Sean Burroughs’ father than he is known for being Jeff Burroughs’ son.”
After starring at Stearns, Sean Burroughs went on to an All-American career at Wilson, and was selected ninth overall in the 1998 MLB Draft by the Padres his senior year with the Bruins. He won a gold medal with the United States National Team at the 2000 Olympics and was named the MLB Futures Game’s MVP that year as well. He was called up to the Major Leagues in 2002 in what seemed the fulfillment of a lifetime of promise.
He would go on to play five years in the Major Leagues before falling out of baseball from 2008 through 2010. He talked with ESPN about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction during that time, and his recovery and return to the game became a national story.
“Last May, June, I kind of was getting things back together and thinking, ‘I’d love to play baseball again,’ but it was in the back of my mind because I didn’t know how to do it,” Burroughs said. “I knew it would be a long journey, but it shows when I put my mind to something and want it and persevere, it’s possible. It really is. It’s incredible I’m where I’m at. People are lucky to even have me alive, forget to see me play baseball and smiling every day. My worst day now is better than my best day then.”
Burroughs played with the Diamondbacks in 2011 and the Twins in 2012, and continued to play minor league and independent ball until 2017. Burroughs returned home and had been coaching his son, Knox, at Long Beach Little League. He was at the field for a game on Thursday when a sudden cardiac arrest ended his life and sent the tight-knit Long Beach baseball world into mourning.
His loss wasn’t just felt locally though. Burroughs impacted people across the country and his story of recovery was an inspiration to many.
“We at USA Baseball are heartbroken to hear of the tragic passing of Sean,” said USA Baseball Executive Director/CEO Paul Seiler in a statement. “Sean was a part of one of our most beloved teams, and he represented our country on and off the field in a first-class manner. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Burroughs family during this time.”
There will undoubtedly be public celebrations of Burroughs’ life and accomplishments in the coming weeks. He was an athlete who was famous young and who grew up on the public stage in the early 1990s, a pre-social media age when those kinds of pressures weren’t often put on kids.
Burroughs accomplished a lot in his life, including bringing international acclaim to his hometown, where he’d returned to help mentor and coach the next generation. He leaves memories that will live on forever, and a reminder that the true value of sports is not just in trophies obtained, but in the love and connections forged in competition.
His father, Jeff, wrote in The Little Team That Could:
“Sean came off the mound after one of his no-hitters at Williamsport and walked right into my arms. I’ll carry that memory forever, but you will not find that moment recorded on the score sheets. They haven’t yet devised a scorekeeping symbol that means ‘one great kid hugging one dad with a lump in his throat.’”
