Husband of Dodgers fan killed by foul ball wants action, not team's sympathy
The man whose wife died last summer after being hit by a foul ball at a Los Angeles Dodgers game wants increased protection for fans at the park before he accepts a ceremony to honor her.
Woman dies after being hit by foul ball
Linda Goldbloom, 79, died of “acute intracranial hemorrhage due to history of blunt force trauma” caused by a line drive in the ninth inning of a game Aug. 25 at Dodger Stadium. Linda and her husband, Erwin, were sitting on the first base side just above field level where the protective netting stops. They were partial season ticket holders.
"The first batter fouled a ball ... that came and hit her right in the cheek," Erwin Goldbloom told Los Angeles station KABC last month. "[It] came so quick that we didn't have time to react. Nobody did in our area."
Linda and Erwin were married 50 years, according to ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” and had three children and seven grandchildren.
Media did not report on the event last summer and the Dodgers stayed silent. Outside the Lines first reported the news last month after obtaining the coroner’s report.
Goldbloom was the first person in nearly 50 years to die from being hit by a foul ball. There are three documented cases.
Husband wants ‘action’ not ‘sympathy’
Erwin Goldbloom told “Outside the Lines” on Wednesday that the team contacted his attorney about setting up a moment of silence some time during the season.
“We don’t need their sympathy. We want action,” he said, per the report. “If they agree to make changes to improve safety for fans, then I’ll go down there.”
He said the team had not been in contact since the message was relayed to them by his attorney. The two sides reached an agreement on the family’s lawsuit, per multiple reports, in January. He told OTL he does not see himself attending any more baseball games.
Goldbloom and his daughter, Jana Brody, sent a letter to a senior Major League Baseball official and one to the MLB Players Association, per OTL. The first was proposing higher netting and establishing a fund to help injured fans and their families. The other letter was asking for support from the players association in those endeavors, per OTL.
Brody has advocated previously for netting similar to that in Japan, where it goes foul pole to foul pole and raises just as high.
Extended netting coverage
All 30 MLB teams extended their protective netting last offseason in advance of 2018 opening day. It went to “at least the far ends of both dugouts.” All but three teams had already said they would expand the net.
It has received increased attention, particularly after a 2-year-old girl suffered injuries at Yankee Stadium. Todd Frazier, whose foul ball hit the girl, called for extended netting a few days later. The ball was traveling 105 mph.
“Players have for a very long time advocated for increased use of netting and other measures to improve fan safety at games,” Tony Clark, executive director of the MLBPA, said in a statement to OTL this week.
Detractors argue it makes fans feel caged and gets in the way of views.
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