Sean Burroughs, a former first-round pick by the San Diego Padres in the 1998 MLB Draft, died from a drug overdose in early May, a medical examiner’s report has confirmed.
In the report made public this week by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Mr. Burroughs’s official cause of death was listed as fentanyl intoxication.
His death has been ruled accidental.
Mr. Burroughs, the son of former MLB outfielder Jeff Burroughs, died at age 43 on May 9, according to the Long Beach Fire Department.
Authorities found him unresponsive in a parking lot in Long Beach, California, after responding to a call shortly after 5 p.m. involving a person in full cardiac arrest, the fire department said at the time. He was declared dead at the scene.
“We did all of our lifesaving measures, but we weren’t successful,” public information officer Brian Fisk said at the time.
Mr. Burroughs, a two-time Little League World Series champion who won an Olympic gold medal, opened up on struggles with drug addiction in an interview with ESPN in 2011.
“I wasn’t an out-on-the-town type of guy. I would just try to fill myself with as much substances as I could, legally or illegally,” Mr. Burroughs told the sports outlet when asked what his drug of choice was.
Long Beach Little League, which organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues, said in a statement the day after Mr. Burroughs was found dead that he was on his way to coach his son’s baseball team when he collapsed in the parking lot.
“I have had the privilege of coaching with Sean for the past two years and he always came with a fun & 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,” the organization said.
Career
Mr. Burroughs was a standout as a pitcher in the Little League World Series (LLWS) for the Long Beach team, which became the first U.S. squad to win consecutive titles.
He pitched consecutive no-hitters in the 1993 LLWS—with a then-record 16 strikeouts—and his team won the title over Panama, 3–2.
“Sean was a legend in LBLL and the baseball community,” Long Beach Little League President Doug Wittman and the board of directors wrote in a social media post in May.
Mr. Burroughs committed to play baseball at the University of Southern California, but the Padres selected him with the ninth pick in the first round of the 1998 MLB draft. He signed with them instead.
He was a career .278 hitter, with 12 home runs and 143 RBIs with the Padres, Tampa Bay, Arizona, and Minnesota. He was also named most valuable player of the 2002 All-Star Futures Game.
After the 2005 season, the Padres traded Mr. Burroughs to Tampa Bay, but he saw limited playing time before being optioned to the minors and designated for assignment.
In 2006, he signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners but was released less than halfway through the season. He went on to sign a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010 before playing for multiple independent minor league teams from 2013–2017.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.