TED WILLIAMS The Splendid Splinter still frozen, awaiting cure from cryonic state

The former Red Sox slugger is stored in an Arizona facility.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Seven shiny stainless steel containers, each 9 feet tall, offer no hint of their contents.
Certainly no one would guess that one of baseball's greatest players, the Splendid Splinter himself, is stored upside down inside one of them, preserved at minus-320 degrees.
Ted Williams, the last man to hit .400 in the majors, is among 18 people whose bodies have been frozen with care -- inside and out -- in a process known as cryonic suspension. They are stored in tanks filled with liquid nitrogen, a bit of vapor spewing from the brims, behind locked doors at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.
Another 40 human heads -- known as "neuros" -- are here, too, along with a handful of pet dogs and cats that are preserved until they might play fetch or cough up a hairball again.
They await the day, should it ever come, that science and technology can restore them to life, and when necessary attach their heads to new bodies, in order to give them another go on Earth.
"We promise nothing, except our best efforts," said Dr. Jerry Lemler, the foundation's president and chief executive officer. "We absolutely make no promises that this will work."
Public and private
The foundation will not confirm that Williams is among the "members" preserved here. Names are kept secret if the person so wishes. His presence was revealed in court documents when his oldest daughter challenged the decision he made late in life to be brought here.
Others have no such privacy concerns. Their photos line the walls of the foundation's front office.
Among them is Dick Jones, a comedy writer for the "Carol Burnett Show" and "Mama's Family." He even gave the foundation his Emmy award, presumably to be retrieved later.
Founded in 1972, Alcor is one of two facilities available for those who wish to, as a foundation's brochure says, "take a brief intermission before Act 2."
The foundation, which is expanding to allow two preservation procedures to be conducted at once, has about 650 live members awaiting suspension.
"This may or may not work," he said. "It may be even a long shot, but at least I've got to give it a chance. I've never been one to be a spectator in my own life, and I'm not going to stop now."
Last chance
It is best to die of natural causes, so as soon as death occurs, the cool-down can begin.
"Our key word around here is urgency," board chairman Michael Riskin said, "because we don't look upon somebody that's been clinically pronounced dead as permanently dead. We see them as potentially alive again in the future, so that's the care that we give them, as soon as possible."
Those waiting for death pay annual dues -- $398 for the first family member. Those who die in accidents probably won't be in good enough shape to be preserved. One member was lost in the World Trade Center disaster.
But for those who finish their days in one piece, as Williams did, hope can outlive life itself.