Sean Burroughs, ex-Long Beach Little League star, died of fentanyl intoxication, examiner says

The death of Sean Burroughs, who helped Long Beach win back-to-back Little League World Series titles in the early 1990s, was caused by fentanyl intoxication, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner.

A report released this week by the medical examiner’s office ruled the 43-year-old Burroughs’ death in May as an accident. The place of death is listed as “vehicle.”

On May 9, Burroughs, the No. 9 overall pick in the 1998 MLB draft, collapsed in the parking lot of Stearns Park in Long Beach after dropping off his 6-year-old son for baseball practice, Long Beach Little League president Doug Wittman told the Long Beach Press-Telegram at the time. Burroughs’ mother, Debbie, told the media outlet that her son had suffered cardiac arrest.

Wittman told the Press-Telegram that Burroughs was found unconscious next to his car and was not responsive when CPR was performed. The Long Beach Fire Department responded to 9-1-1 calls and pronounced Burroughs dead at the scene.

Burroughs, the son of former American League MVP Jeff Burroughs, was a star player for the Long Beach team that won the Little League World Series in 1992 and 1993, pitching back-to-back no-hitters during the latter tournament. He also played for the U.S. Olympic team that won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Games.

After playing for the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Devil Rays from 2002-2006, Sean Burroughs was out of baseball for several years, later telling ESPN he had suffered from substance abuse during some of that time. But he worked his way back to the majors. playing 78 games for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 and 10 games for the Minnesota Twins in 2012.

Burroughs played for a Dodgers minor league affiliate in 2013 before eventually returning to Long Beach, where he coached his son in Little League. In a statement released after Burroughs’ death, Wittman referred to him as “a legend in LBLL and the baseball community.”

“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,” Wittman wrote, “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.”