Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Man Tries to Order Priciest Starbucks Drink Ever Total cost: $23.60 »

Ted Williams' Frozen Head Treated Like a Baseball

Former exec at cryogenics company details bizarre, unprofessional practices

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 2, 2009 9:21 AM CDT

(Newser) – Ted Williams’ frozen head has apparently not received the respect usually accorded to Hall of Famers. In a tell-all, a former exec at the cryogenic facility where the Red Sox slugger’s body resides writes that his severed head was propped up in a canister on a can of Bumble Bee tuna. When the head was removed, he claims, the tin stuck to it, and a worker attempted to separate the two with a monkey wrench—wielded as a bat.

“Tiny pieces of frozen head” went flying everywhere, writes Larry Johnson in Frozen: My Journey Into the World of Cryonics, Deception, and Death, obtained by the New York Daily News. Johnson, who blew the whistle on Alcor in 2003, also says Williams’ decapitation was carried out by unskilled workers with improper tools, and that before the head was frozen it was drilled with holes so that microphones could be inserted to record bones breaking as it descended to -321 degrees F.

Ted Williams in 1999.
Ted Williams in 1999.   (AP Photo)
President and CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. Jerry Lemler, poses in the Patient Care Bay at the company's office in Scottsdale, Arizona.
President and CEO of Alcor Life Extension Foundation Dr. Jerry Lemler, poses in the Patient Care Bay at the company's office in Scottsdale, Arizona.   (Getty Images)
Ted Williams in 1941.
Ted Williams in 1941.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 14 comments
Cat-Lover
Oct 3, 2009 1:58 AM CDT
It could have been turned into Soylent Green.
Berzelius
Oct 2, 2009 9:53 AM CDT
Well, yes, that is the objective. But I would imagine being at the forefront of this technology, 1.)it isn't going to work, at least not on the first slew of heads; but 2.)probably some more practical technology will develop out of this. All this reminds of that head in Futurama. But I suppose you are right. The majority of people probably wish to come back to live again.
JayJay
Oct 2, 2009 8:52 AM CDT
i may be the only one here... but omg the guy froze his head!!! did he want this?????????? like putting microphones into the poor guys skull 2 hear bone crack??? wow

More Newser Stories

Henderson, Rice Join Hall of Fame

BoSox Star Dom DiMaggio Dead at 92

Yaz OK After Triple Bypass

Ex-Commish Kuhn Headlines HOF Class


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne