Remembering Sean Burroughs
From Williamsport to Letterman to the Big Leagues, the former third baseman left his mark
When a friend texted the news yesterday that Sean Burroughs had passed away at age 43, I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach.
Many were introduced to Sean when he was the star of the Long Beach Little League team that won consecutive Little League World Series in 1992 and 1993. He hit 3 home runs and pitched 2 no-hitters en route to the ‘93 title, including a 16-strikeout performance in the championship game against Panama.
(Sean was featured prominently here, in John Saunders’ open to the LLWS title game.)
How many 12-year-olds have had the opportunity to trade jokes and take batting practice with David Letterman?
5 years after his late night television debut, Burroughs was selected in the first round of the 1998 draft, 9th overall, by the Padres. He and his father Jeff a 16-year major league veteran and the 1974 American League MVP, became the first-ever father-son tandem of first-round draft picks.
San Diego is where I met Sean.
We closely followed his rapid ascent through the minor leagues, as there was a belief that, with Tony Gwynn nearing the end of his career, the young third baseman could emerge as the next home-grown Padres star.
A member of the Gold Medal-winning U.S. Baseball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Burroughs made his major league debut at age 21 on Opening Day in 2002, the first season after Gwynn had retired.
Things just didn’t work out.
While he hit for a decent average and got on base at a respectable clip, Burroughs never developed the power the Padres had anticipated. He was demoted to Triple-A mid-way through the 2005 season and was eventually traded to the Rays for whom he played briefly in 2006.
After appearing in 4 Triple-A games for the Mariners in 2007, Burroughs walked away from baseball, later acknowledging he was struggling with substance abuse issues that he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2012, “took away from my aspirations and my dreams.”
After working hard to achieve sobriety with the support of family and friends, Burroughs returned to baseball after a 4-year absence in 2011, the door opened by then D-Backs general manager Kevin Towers, who—as GM of the Padres—had drafted Sean out of high school.
Burroughs earned his way back to the majors for 78 games in 2011 and even appeared in the postseason for Arizona. But after 10 games with the Twins in 2012, his major league career was over.
While he hung on in the minors—and, later, playing independent league ball until 2017—Burroughs eventually returned home to Long Beach, where his big league dreams had taken flight.
In recent years, he helped coach his son’s Little League team at Stearns Champions Park, the same park where Sean began his own journey. The word “Champions” had been added to Stearns Park’s name to commemorate the 2-time Little League World Series champions that had called the park home.
And it was at Stearns Champions Park where he reportedly suffered cardiac arrest Thursday.
This story of fathers and sons hit me hard because Sean Burroughs was my oldest child’s first favorite major league player. While my son doesn’t remember much of this—he was 2 at the time—Mom and Dad sure do. Sean would often play with him at Spring Training and at the ballpark during the season.
Sean Burroughs’ picture hung in our son’s San Diego bedroom. And I can still hear his young voice repeating “Sean Buw-wos!…Sean Buw-wos!” when he’d see the third baseman’s photo or see the real thing in person.
He and my wife sat next to the Burroughs family in the visiting players family section at Chase Field in Phoenix on Opening Day 2002, the day Sean made his big league debut.
Sean’s first year in San Diego would be my last. We moved on to the Red Sox and, later, the Marlins. But the handful of times I’d see Sean at ballparks around the league in those ensuing years—even the last time in 2011, nearly a decade later—he’d always ask about my son by name.
You don’t forget people like that.
In The Little Team That Could, the story of the Long Beach Little League World Series champs that Jeff Burroughs co-wrote, he remembered a moment to which any father can relate:
“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.’”
Sean Burroughs will be missed.
He’ll also be remembered.
While you’re here…
Check out my new Baseball podcast CROOKED NUMBERS on Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn more about one-on-one play-by-play coaching from Glenn Geffner via Zoom at glenngeffner.com.
Wonderful writing, Glenn. So sad.
RIP, Sean - shockingly young. I remember his dad quite well.