Gene Glynn was coaching third base for the Chicago Cubs and then San Francisco during the four seasons (2002-05) that Sean Burroughs played third base for the San Diego Padres.
"You talk to the opposing third baseman a lot when you're coaching there," Glynn said. "I looked forward to seeing Sean. He always came off as an upbeat guy. And then the Padres traded him and he kind of dropped out of the picture."
Glynn went to Acrigua, Venezuela, last fall to coach for Don Baylor in the winter league. The third baseman was Burroughs.
Glynn had been negotiating with the Twins to become the manager at Class AAA Rochester. The announcement was made in late November. And that enabled Glynn to give a strong recommendation for Burroughs when asked by the Twins.
As it turned out, Baylor and Glynn were fired at Acrigua -- those things happen routinely in the Caribbean leagues -- in mid-December, a couple of days before the Twins signed Burroughs as a minor league free agent.
"Í had no idea what Sean had gone through," Glynn said. "He looked the same to me as he did five years earlier: 215 or 220 pounds, in great shape, knew what he wanted to do at the plate and good with the glove."
What Burroughs had gone through were four years of alcohol and drug abuse that mirrors the tale of Josh Hamilton, who went from the No. 1 overall draft choice, to a heroin addiction, to the American League's MVP for the Texas Rangers in 2010.
Sean's father, Jeff, was the AL's MVP (also for the Rangers) in 1974. Sean was the star of the Long Beach, Calif., team that won the Little League World Series. He was the ninth overall pick by the Padres in 1998. He was in the lineup on Opening Day in 2002.