Former MLB player and Olympic gold medalist Sean Burroughs has passed away.

Burroughs, a former Little League World Series champion, was 43.

The Long Beach Little League, based in California, said Burroughs “tragically passed away.”

“According to Long Beach Little League president Doug Wittman, Burroughs was found unconscious next to his car in the parking lot at a Long Beach ballfield after dropping off his son, Knox, for a Little League game,” ESPN reports.

His mother, Debbie, reportedly said his cause of death was cardiac arrest.

“We mourn the passing of former Padres third baseman Sean Burroughs. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this very difficult time,” the San Diego Padres wrote.

Per ESPN:

Wittman said CPR was performed on Burroughs in hopes of reviving him, but he remained unresponsive and was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after.

“It was very shocking,” Wittman told The Orange County Register. “It’s a real sense of family at Long Beach Little League. So when we lose one of our own, it hurts.”

In its statement, the Long Beach Little League praised Burroughs as “a legend in LBLL and the baseball community for winning back-to-back Little League World Series Championships for LBLL in 1992 and 1993.”

“To say this is a huge loss is an understatement,” the statement continued. “… We will have his family in our thoughts and prayers during this time and try to end the season playing the kind of baseball Coach Sean would be proud of.”

Burroughs threw back-to-back no-hitters to help Long Beach to consecutive Little League championships, then went on to star at Long Beach Wilson High.

The son of 1974 American League MVP Jeff Burroughs was selected with the No. 9 overall pick by the San Diego Padres in 1998. The third baseman made his major league debut in April 2002, recorded the first walk-off hit for the Padres in Petco Park history in 2004 and was out of baseball in 2007 before returning to play from 2011 to 2012.

From the Associated Press:

Burroughs was a standout as a pitcher in the Little League World Series for the Long Beach team, which became the first U.S. squad to win consecutive titles. They won the 1992 championship after the Philippines, their opponent in the title round, had to forfeit for using overaged players.

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,” Wittman wrote.

Burroughs won a gold medal with the U.S. baseball team coached by Tommy Lasorda at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

“We at USA Baseball are heartbroken to hear of the tragic passing of Sean,” USA Baseball executive director and CEO Paul Seiler said in a statement. “Sean was a part of one of our most beloved teams, and he represented our country on and off the field in a first-class manner.”

“He was a career .278 hitter, with 12 home runs and 143 RBIs with the Padres, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Minnesota,” the Associated Press noted.

 

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