An American tragedy [Controversy surrounding Ted Williams' death continues]

Sports Illustrated ^ | August 12, 2003 | Tom Veducci

[StatesEnemy]

"Show me a hero," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "and I will write you a tragedy."

Hero is a word thrown around all too loosely these days. Middle infielders who slap singles in the ninth inning of a game in April are called heroes. Ted Williams was the real deal. He flew fighter jets in wartime and in peacetime gave baseball fans the sublime measure of what it means to be a hitter. The tragedy to befall this hero is something Fitzgerald could never have imagined. It has occurred during Williams' post-mortem days.

The fighting among his children, the deep controversy surrounding his wishes and the questions over what has happened to his remains is a 21st-century American tragedy, something unthinkable to the men and women of The Greatest Generation and to Williams' many fans.

On Aug. 1, while I was reporting the Williams story for this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, a wire service item appeared in many major news outlets. Ted Williams, it said, "is stored upside down" and has "been frozen with care." That had been the story for 13 months. I knew it wasn't true, thanks largely to Larry Johnson, the former chief operating officer of Alcor Life Extension Foundation, a cryonics company in Scottsdale, Ariz.

[StatesEnemy]

The Splendid Splinter has been split. His body's buried in a pit.

His frozen head is on a shelf In hopes of bringing back the self.

        ~ States Enemy

The man who once hit .406 Is now in cryogenesis.

Perhaps one day, we'll thaw his dome and stitch his noggin to a clone.

I wonder, if and when we did Would he still be called 'the kid'?

[Bikers4Bush]

Some people are alive only because it's against the law to kill them.

[Whitebread]

Thaw him out in 2018, Then maybe he'll get a World Series ring.

[albertabound]

Even frozen, he would still hit .250 with 10 h.r. and 60 rbi's

[Hildy]

When John Henry came into Williams' life, it was a happy miracle which came and changed Ted's life. By the end of his life, it became his major embarrassment.

[Spruce]

According to this link
...The silver can containing Williams' head resembles a lobster pot and is marked in black with Williams' patient I.D. number, A-1949, according to the SI story. Williams' head has been shaved and drilled with holes. Verducci also reports that, before the head was placed in its present location, it was accidentally cracked as many as 10 times due to fluctuating storage temperatures...

I don't think Te'ds coming back.

[Hildy]

Actually, a better word would be John Henry became his biggest "disappointment." He knew exactly what John Henry was doing.

[petuniasevan]

Heard about this on WTMJ this afternoon. "Bizarre" doesn't begin to describe this situation.

Maybe "Just Damn" will.

[NewRomeTacitus]

A note on Ted Williams from former FBI bigwig Buck Revell’s book, “A G-Man’s Journal”:

“I was uncharacteristically nervous...Ted Williams, a Marine combat pilot in World War II and Korea, and perhaps the greatest baseball player of all time, was in attendance...I spoke...also of my admiration for a man who had twice answered his country’s call. It was that service and devotion to duty that set Ted Williams apart in my mind. That was what made him a true hero. When I finished speaking, Williams came up to the podium and made a short speech. In it, he praised the Corps and the Bureau, then he did something that truly humbled me. He turned to face me and said, “Buck Revell, it is you and men like you who are the true American heroes.”

[squidly]

I could throw some corpses in a freezer for $136,000 a pop. Shoot, I'm in the wrong line of work.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[gwmoore]

Sorry, Ted, no score here... Not only do we have the small problem that the head was separated from the torso (why??? many of these "go frozen into the future fanatics" are frozen intact, with some degree of care taken to remove the blood and replace it with a high-tech "anti freeze"...

Why would some one drill HOLES in the skull??? makes no sense..

That being said, the whole concept is a ripoff anyway, because there still isnt any satisfactory way of reducing the body temperature of the remains through the freezing point without expansion of the water content and massive cell wall rupture, making future "resusciation" rather problematic.

Now, the other problem with the resusciation of these corpsicles, even if a way could be found to re-animate them, is the huge question of "What is really there"... Sure, one can keep someone alive on massive life support for long periods of time, even though they are brain dead. Now, here's the biggie....where's the soul?????? My belief is that the soul is in a far better place than a dewar flask, and there is no way that one is going to reunite same.

Even making the great leap of faith that someday, somehow, these people learn how to jump start the corpsicles, well, they will be empty shells, no identity, no memory, no nothing, while the soul looks down on these hopeless idiots and laughs at their confabulatiion.

Nice try Ted, but I would rather remember your patriotism, your fantastic plays and your performance at bat, than look upon a bunch of idjits trying to make things work, and never succeed... I do believe that the call at this point is "sterrrrike three, yer out". Rest in Peace, Ted, you've earned it.

Keep the Faith for Freedom

Greg

[Tall_Texan]

Doesn't sound all that different from Jeffrey Dahmer's fridge, does it?

[Tall_Texan]

Why would some one drill HOLES in the skull??? makes no sense..

SI actually has this as two stories. In the second one, it mentions the nickel-sized holes were to insert sensors that monitor temperature and other condtions.

Like you, I don't buy the whole prospect but I'm just answering your question.

A better question to ask is how they expect the head to work when re-attached. Even if they cure whatever supposedly killed Williams, he now has much bigger problems before returning to normal. And "normal" is stil going to be an 80-year-old man.

If you were going to make a go of this, wouldn't it be much smarter to be frozen while you're still young and in relatively good health? Who wants to come back as a sick old man?

[weegee]

Now, the other problem with the resusciation of these corpsicles, even if a way could be found to re-animate them, is the huge question of "What is really there"... Sure, one can keep someone alive on massive life support for long periods of time, even though they are brain dead. Now, here's the biggie....where's the soul?????? My belief is that the soul is in a far better place than a dewar flask, and there is no way that one is going to reunite same.

I'll address your second question first (the one about the soul). From what I've read, Ted was an atheist so his belief of resurection did not consider having to reunite body with soul.

As to him being called a corpsicle, I've head his frozen DNA referred to as Tedsicles (there was talk of cloning Ted).

[FlyVet]

From what I've read, Ted was an atheist so his belief of resurection did not consider having to reunite body with soul.

I gathered that myself, from anything I've read. A great human being, with more guts than most all of us....but it don't really matter what happens to your meat after you croak. Anything that matters, happens before you croak. It's about your spirit and your soul, not your meat.

If they want to freeze his meat, or drill holes in his skull, what does it matter? Teddy Ballgame's destiny was decided at the moment he croaked.

[Conservative til I die]

You do realize that Ted Williams wanted to be cremated. It's his complete kook of a son, John Henry Williams that put him in cryostasis.