Ted Williams

Ted Williams

Ted Williams was abused, according to an excerpt from an upcoming book. The book, Frozen, chronicles the remains of the late Red Sox slugger in the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a cryogenic facility in Arizona. The book’s author, former Alcor executive Larry Johnson, describes how Williams’ body was mistreated and abused. The book, out Tuesday from Vanguard Press, tells how Williams’ corpse became “Alcorian A-1949″ at the facility, where bodies are kept suspended in liquid nitrogen in case future generations learn how to revive them. Johnson writes that in July 2002, shortly after the Red Sox slugger died at age 83, technicians with no medical certification gleefully photographed and used crude equipment to decapitate the majors’ last .400 hitter. Williams’ severed head was then frozen, and even used for batting practice by a technician trying to dislodge it from a tuna fish can.

Johnson writes that holes were drilled in Williams’ severed head for the insertion of microphones, then frozen in liquid nitrogen while Alcor employees recorded the sounds of Williams’ brain cracking 16 times as temperatures dropped to -321 degrees Fahrenheit. 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. 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. That’s inhumane and disturbing stuff. And probably touches on a lot of people’s fears about how one’s body is handled after death. The Williams estate paid $120,000 for Ted’s body to be “suspended.” Johnson is scheduled to appear on ABC’s “Nightline” this Tuesday. Johnson writes that in July 2002, shortly after the Red Sox slugger died at age 83, technicians with no medical certification gleefully photographed and used crude equipment to decapitate the majors’ last .400 hitter.

Williams’ severed head was then frozen, and even used for batting practice by a technician trying to dislodge it from a tuna fish can. Gaaah. Regardless of where you stand on the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry, Joe D. versus Ted Williams, cryogenics versus logic, this is just wrong. I sincerely hope the people involved with this weren’t supposed Yankees fans because that won’t be good… for anyone. So it is startling to see him listed as executive producer for the ambitious "30 for 30,'' a 15-month-long series of documentaries by A-list filmmakers to celebrate ESPN's 30th anniversary. But Simmons, who turned 40 last Friday, insisted he hasn't changed, saying his role merely is evidence of the network's diversity of opinion and willingness to "mesh it into one thing.'' Then, though, just in case you feared he had morphed into a bland corporate suit, he answered a question about HBO, the reigning king of sports documentaries, with this riff about its approach: