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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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 CRYOGENIC TELL-ALL 
15

Ted Williams' Frozen Head Treated Like a Baseball

Former exec at cryogenics company details bizarre, unprofessional practices

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(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)
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15 comments
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Rake16
Oct 2, 09 9:34 AM CDT
This really hurts me as a baseball fan. Why can't people show more respect these days? Reply
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+5
IN RESPONSE:
doingtherightthing
Oct 2, 09 10:24 AM CDT
Ted's head.........can his head make it to 400. Should we look at baseball history? Ted was the last man to bat over 400..........I'm betting his average will out last his head......
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0
Mafu
Oct 2, 09 9:42 AM CDT
Yeah this is horrible... Reply
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+1
Robert_Dada
Oct 2, 09 9:45 AM CDT
Unfortunately this kind of thing has gone on for decades. Over 30 years ago, my brother changed majors at a well know university due to how the students handled cadavers disrespectfully and on a fairly regular basis, with the professors and administrators turning a blind eye. The veil of civility over our culture is thin at best. Reply
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
pwnage
Oct 2, 09 10:09 AM CDT
Too bad your brother changed majors. Sounds like he would have been one of the good ones.
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+2
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