Former Major League Baseball player’s cause of death revealed

Sean Burroughs, a two-time Little League World Series champion who won an Olympic gold medal and had a major league career interrupted by drug addiction, died of fentanyl poisoning, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office.

According to documents posted online this week, his death, which occurred May 9 near his car at Stearns Champions Park in Long Beach, California, was accidental. Burroughs was 43.

Long Beach Fire Department responded to the scene after receiving a report of a person in cardiac arrest in the parking lot. “We took all necessary life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful,” Public Information Officer Brian Fisk said at the time, adding that the person was pronounced dead at the scene.

Burroughs grew up in Long Beach and coached the city’s Little League program.

He was a standout pitcher in the Little League World Series for the Long Beach team, which became the first American team to win back-to-back titles. They won the 1992 championship after the Philippines, their title-round opponent, forfeited the game for using overage players.

Burroughs threw back-to-back no-hitters in the 1993 LLWS – with a then-record 16 strikeouts – and his team won the title against Panama, 3-2.

He won a gold medal with the U.S. baseball team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Burroughs had a career batting .278 with 12 home runs and 143 RBIs with the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay, Arizona and Minnesota.