Linda Goldbloom

Linda Goldbloom (1939 - August 29, 2018) was an American woman who was killed by a foul ball at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game, making her only the third person to have been killed as a result of a foul ball. She was the first death of this type in more than fifty years.
Linda's husband, Erwin Goldbloom, settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the Dodgers after her death. To stop similar deaths from happening in the future, Erwin advocated for more netting and all thirty major baseball parks began to add more netting.
Life
Adult life
Linda was married to Erwin Goldbloom for 59 years, and the two were celebrating their 59th wedding anniversary the day that she died. The couple had three children, and seven grandchildren. At the time of her death, Goldbloom was retired.
Death
On August 25th, 2018, Linda Goldbloom and her husband Erwin went to a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium to celebrate her 79th birthday and the couple's 59th wedding anniversary. Kenley Jansen, pitcher for the Dodgers, threw a pitch going at 93 miles per hour. The ball was hit foul over the protective netting and into the audience, where it struck Goldbloom in the head.
Goldbloom was rushed to USC Medical Center, where she would die four days later on August 29th. She underwent emergency brain surgery, but this was unable to stop her from dying. She died surrounded by her husband, three children, and seven grandchildren. Her official cause of death was listed as "acute intracranial hemorrhage due to history of blunt force trauma", as a direct result of being hit by the baseball on August 25th.
Legacy
The Dodgers released a statement to ESPN after Goldbloom's death, stating: "Mr. and Mrs. Goldbloom were great Dodgers fans who regularly attended games. We were deeply saddened by this tragic accident and the passing of Mrs. Goldbloom. The matter has been resolved between the Dodgers and the Goldbloom family. We cannot comment further on this matter." The controversy from Goldbloom's death led to a wrongful death lawsuit by Erwin Goldbloom, which was settled for an undisclosed amount.
Major League Baseball faced great amounts of criticism as a result of Goldbloom's death. Though the widening of nets was recommended by the league in 2015, no recommendations were made about the height of netting, which could have prevented the death. The website FoulBallz.com highlighted that, while there have only been three deaths from foul balls, the MLB has documented 107 incidents of fan injuries from broken bats and foul balls. In the aftermath of Goldbloom's death, nets were heightened in order to stop future tragedies.

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