Former MLB player Sean Burroughs passed away on Thursday after collapsing while coaching his son’s Little League baseball game, according to a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
He was just 43 years old.
The son of 1974 American League MVP Jeff Burroughs, Sean had a long history in baseball.
As a youth, Burroughs starred for his Long Beach, Calif. Little League team, leading them to two straight titles in 1992 and 1993.
In 1998, Burroughs was drafted No. 9 overall by the San Diego Padres and would make his big league debut with the team at 21 years old in 2002.
Before making it to the majors, Burroughs won a Gold Medal with the United States during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.
Burroughs would go on to play seven seasons in the big leagues, playing in 528 games overall while putting up a .278/.335/.355 slash line.
He spent his first four seasons in the show with San Diego from 2002 to 2005.
Burroughs had the best season of his career in 2003 when he hit .286/.352/.402 with seven home runs and seven stolen bases in 146 games as the Padres’ starting third baseman.
In 2006, Burroughs joined the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but played in just eight games before being released. A year later, he had a minor league stint with the Seattle Mariners but never made it out of Triple-A.
Out of baseball from 2008-10, Burroughs entered a dark place as he struggled with addiction, “abusing every substance he could ingest,” as he told ESPN, before making a triumphant comeback to the diamond.
After three years away from the field, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Burroughs to a minor league contract ahead of the 2011 season. He would play in 78 games that season.
Burroughs got one more chance in the majors with the Minnesota Twins.
He played in 10 games during what would be his last appearances at the highest level.
