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One of the more sensational stories in sports in the earlier part was the fate of Ted Williams' body. His family wrangled over what would be done with it after Williams' death in 2002, with agreements to store his body via cryogenics missing his signature, a will conflicting with that agreement, and all sorts of unsightly squabbling in Williams' family.Apparently, that was just the beginning. According to a report by the New York Daily News, in a new tell-all book about the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, former Alcor executive Larry Johnson alleges that mistreatment of Williams happened early and often at their Scottsdale, Arizona, facility.
Johnson writes that the head was balanced on an empty can of Bumble Bee tuna to keep it from sticking to the bottom of its case.Gruesome and shocking as those claims are, it should be noted that Johnson also reportedly reams Alcor for dismembering live dogs and inappropriately disposing of human waste, and that Johnson has been blowing the whistle on Alcor for a while. (He was the key source for the 2003 Sports Illustrated article that initially brought scrutiny to Alcor.) So the stomach-turning stuff doesn't end with Williams, sadly.Johnson describes watching as another Alcor employee removed Williams' head from the freezer with a stick, and tried to dislodge the tuna can by swinging at it with a monkey wrench.
The technician, no .406 hitter like the baseball legend, missed the can with several swings of the wrench and smacked Williams' head directly, spraying "tiny pieces of frozen head" around the room.
Johnson accuses the company of joking morbidly about mailing Williams' thawing remains back to his family if his son didn't pay his outstanding debt to the company.
But that's probably cold comfort, no pun intended, to the family and friends who have seen the Splendid Splinter's agonizing afterlife overshadow his existence on Earth.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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Um, I believe Williams was generally considered a calous jerk during his carreer. Booed leaguwide. and often dispised by his players when he managed.
by jmdziuban1 on Oct 3, 2009 6:33 AM EDT reply actions
Being the best hitter in the history of the game will earn some resentment.
by H.W. Crook on Oct 3, 2009 10:01 AM EDT reply actions
jmdziuban1 are you saying that what’s happening here is ok? If so, go get yourself some professional help!! There is never a reason for abuse of a corpse. And anyone that doesn’t find this disturbing probably gets some kind of twisted excitement outta this sad situation.
by buckeyenut on Oct 3, 2009 12:53 PM EDT reply actions
What sickens me about this whole situation is that John Henry Williams basically killed his father to make money as surely as if he’d stuck a gun to Ted’s head and pulled the trigger.
by STP43FAN on Oct 3, 2009 1:24 PM EDT reply actions
Hey buckeyenut- jmdziuban1 is probably saying something like, if you think it’s OK to have your stinking head frozen so that you can "re-live" at a later point in time, then maybe there is such a thing as karma. Heads weren’t meant to be frozen so you can win another batting tile in the year 2050. The moral of this sad story is simple…DON’T FREEZE YOUR STINKING HEAD!
by JIMBOM9 on Oct 3, 2009 8:17 PM EDT reply actions
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