Dodgers 'Deeply Saddened' By Death Of Woman Hit By Foul Ball At Dodger Stadium
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA/AP) - A grandmother celebrating her 79th birthday and 59th wedding anniversary at a game at Dodger Stadium last August died four days after being hit in the head by a foul ball.
Linda Goldbloom's death Aug. 29 was ruled an accident by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. She was in the stands Aug. 25 when a 93-mph fastball hit by a San Diego Padres player sailed over protected netting and struck Goldbloom.
She died at L.A. County-USC Medical Center. The cause of death was acute intracranial hemorrhage with history of blunt force trauma as the secondary cause, the online coroner's report said.
The Dodgers said in a statement they were "deeply saddened" by Goldbloom's death and the "matter has been resolved between the Dodgers and the Goldbloom family." The team told The Associated Press there would be no further comment for now.
"They offered to pay the funeral expenses, but then we filed a lawsuit for wrongful death and that's when we had the mediation," Erwin Goldbloom said. "It was settled."
He didn't disclose further details of the settlement.
ESPN initially reported Goldbloom's death. The Dodgers did not publicly announce her death or what caused it until contacted by the network.
According to ESPN's report, TV coverage of the game didn't follow the flight of the ball or show where it ended up.
Goldbloom was a mother of three children and grandmother of seven. Daughter Jana Brody told ESPN she hopes to have a fund established in her mother's memory to help victims of such accidents and their families.
For the first time last season, all 30 major league ballparks expanded protective netting that reached to at least the far ends of each dugout. The push for expansion increased in 2017 after a series of spectator injuries.
The ball traveled over safety netting protecting spectators seated in lower seating, according to ESPN.
There have been two other reported instances of fans in the stands dying after being struck by a ball that left the field, including the death of Alan Fish, who died four days after he was hit in the head by a foul ball on May 16, 1970, at Dodger Stadium, according to ESPN.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
