Former Padres' first-round pick and Olympic Champion Sean Burroughs dies at 43, cause of death unknown

The baseball community is in mourning, as former third baseman Sean Burroughs breathed his last. According to MLB insider Bob Nightengale, the 43-year-old collapsed while coaching his son during a Little League game.

"Former MLB Infielder Sean Burroughs, the former first-round draft pick who played parts of seven MLB seasons, collapsed and died Thursday while coaching his son's Little League team. He was just 44." - @BNightengale

The news of Sean Burrough's death has sparked tributes to the former member of the San Diego Padres third baseman. Burroughs spent seven seasons in the MLB, spending time with the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Minnesota Twins.

The ninth overall pick of the San Diego Padres in the 1998 MLB Draft, Burroughs played most of his career with the Friars. Over 432 games with the Padres, he posted a .282 batting average with 11 home runs, 133 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

One of the highlights of Sean Burrough's baseball career came in 2000 when he was selected to represent the United States in the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

USA went on to beat Cuba in the finals, securing a gold medal for Burroughs. Some other notable names who were on the team included Roy Oswalt (Astros), Jon Rauch (Nationals) and Ben Sheets (Brewers).

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Sean Burroughs missed the prime of his career because of battles with addiction

Although Burroughs played seven seasons in the MLB, he missed several years in the middle of his career, as he battled drug and alcohol addiction.

In an interview with Jim Caple of ESPN, the former San Diego Padres infielder dove into his difficult battle with his demons as well as his unraveling and questionable lifestyle while living in Las Vegas.

After "eating cheeseburgers out of garbage cans," Burroughs defied the odds and made a miraculous comeback. Following several years of drug and alcohol addiction, Burroughs made his way back to the MLB.

In 2011, Burroughs cleaned up his life and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks, appearing in 78 games for them.

"Welcome back! #Diamondbacks call up Sean Burroughs. Last appeared in majors in 2006. #MLB" - @Ken_Rosenthal

The next season, he signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins, appearing in 10 MLB games.

Sean Burroughs made his final MLB appearance in April 2012. Although he may never have lived up to the hype surrounding him when he entered the MLB, the fact that he was able to break out of his dark period to return to the majors was a triumph.