Elderly woman killed by foul ball at Major League Baseball game

A 79-year-old woman was killed when a foul ball struck her in the head at a Dodgers game. Photo / Getty Images.

A 79-year-old woman was killed when a foul ball struck her in the head at a Dodgers game during the 2018 season.

Linda Goldbloom, a mother of three and grandmother of seven, died from a brain hemorrhage caused by blunt force trauma, according to a Los Angeles County coroner's report obtained by ESPN.

While Goldbloom's family did not attempt to hide the cause of death — even saying the "end came by a foul ball at [Dodger] Stadium" in an email notification the day she died — the Dodgers made no public mention of the incident, nor did MLB.

This past season was the first in which all 30 stadiums featured protective netting along the foul lines, largely a response to a September 2017 incident at Yankee Stadium in which a toddler was struck in the face by a foul ball.

Todd Frazier, who hit the foul ball that struck the girl at Yankee Stadium, was among the major proponents of increased safety measures, saying at the time: "It's the right thing to do. It really is. Safety first."

While Dodger Stadium has expanded its netting, per MLB recommendations, that was not a factor on the play that killed Goldbloom.

The accident happened in the top of the ninth inning, when San Diego's Franmil Reyes fouled back a 93 mph pitch from Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. The ball was hit a little to the first-base side of home plate, it sailed into the Loge Level -- just over the area protected by netting -- and it struck Goldbloom's head as she sat in section 106, row C, seat 5. The television cameras broadcasting the game did not follow the ball or capture the moment.

Goldbloom's daughter, Jana Brody, told ESPN a stadium usher came down to check on her, after which EMTs arrived to take her to the hospital.

She was unresponsive even after emergency brain surgery and was kept alive on a ventilator for three days. On Aug. 28, her family took her off life support.

The Dodgers made no mention of the incident either when it happened or upon Goldbloom's death, but when reached by ESPN, a spokesman for the team provided a statement.

"Mr. and Mrs. Goldbloom were great Dodgers fans who regularly attended games," the statement read. "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."

It was unclear what exactly the team meant by resolving the matter, and the Goldbloom family refused to comment on any terms that may have been agreed to.

Geoff Jacobson, the father of the young girl struck at Yankee Stadium commented to ESPN on the tragedy, calling it "so unnecessary."

When he spoke to The New York Post in April 2018, he said his daughter is still traumatized the incident.

"My heart goes out to the whole [Goldbloom] family," Jacobson told ESPN. "It's so unnecessary that this had to happen. … It's just tragic that another family is going through this and lost a loved one."