Little League® International mourns the passing of Sean Burroughs, a two-time Little League Baseball® World Series Champion and son of former Major Leaguer Jeff Burroughs, who passed away suddenly at the age of 43 while coaching his son’s Little League game.
As a child, Sean became the first American-born player to throw back-to-back no-hitters in the Little League Baseball World Series and went on to lead his Long Beach (Calif.) Little League team to back-to-back championships in 1992 and 1993, setting history as the first U.S. league to do so. During both of those historic runs, Sean had the opportunity to experience those memories with his father, Jeff, as his coach. During his 1993 run, Sean recorded a then-record 16 strikeouts as part of his back-to-back no-hitters and went on to hit .600 through the World Series performance.
“I think the most important thing to remember about Little League is not to take everything too seriously,” he said in a 2013 interview. “Sometimes the kids can get too flashy when they see themselves on TV. That’s part of the fun, I guess, but at the same time, you can’t get away from the most integral part of the game – winning as a team. If you go 0-for-4 and your team wins, that’s what matters.”
Following his impressive Little League performance, Sean went on to be drafted by the San Diego Padres as the ninth overall selection in the 1998 MLB Draft and was named MVP in the 2000 All-Stars Futures Game. Making his debut with the Padres in 2002, he hit a game-winning single in his first home game and went on to play four seasons with the club.
In addition to three more seasons played between the Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Minnesota Twins, he also helped lead Team U.S.A. to a gold medal in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.