Family of woman killed by foul ball at Dodger game wants more fan safety at ballparks

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - The family of a woman who died after being hit by a foul ball while attending a game at Dodger Stadium is pushing for more fan safety at major league ballparks.

Linda Goldbloom and her husband, Erwin, were in the stands Aug. 25 celebrating her 79th birthday and the couple's 59th wedding anniversary.

A ball hit by a San Diego Padres player went over the protective netting and struck her in the right cheek.

"I asked, 'are you okay?' and she said no," Erwin Goldbloom said on Good Day LA.

Immediately, the Dodger medical staff responded. Goldbloom said his wife couldn't walk and began experiencing symptoms of a stroke.

She was transported to L.A. County-USC Medical Center and died days later.

The cause of death was acute intracranial hemorrhage with history of blunt force trauma as the secondary cause, the online coroner's report said.

"I've been going to baseball games since I was 4-years-old and I've never touched a foul ball," Goldbloom said, who called it a "freak accident."

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."

"They offered to pay the funeral expenses, but then we filed a lawsuit for wrongful death and that's when we had the mediation," Goldbloom said. "It was settled."

ESPN first 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, television coverage of the game didn't follow the flight of the ball or show where it ended up.

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.

"You go to a ballgame to have fun, and we were having fun," Erwin Goldbloom said.

Linda Goldbloom was a mother of three children and grandmother of seven. Erwin Goldbloom says the family has a goal to make MLB games safer for spectators.

"We don't blame the Dodgers," he said. "It just happens, and we'd like to see all the major league teams take more steps to make the game safer for the fans."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.