Presumably, if these conditions are met someday, Williams and the other "patients" residing in Alcor's facility (and those of other cryonics companies) could be resuscitated and brought back to life.  While John Henry Williams has not commented on his reasons for freezing his father's body, there are suspicions that his motives may be less than noble.  Rumors have swirled about the possible ways in which Williams might be exploited for financial gain, including someday using his DNA to produce clones of the famed ballplayer.  Whether or not these rumors have any basis in fact, it is clear that the affair has given new life to discussions of the value and morality of cryonic preservation while fueling the ongoing debates over human cloning.

Links:
= highly recommended

"Even for the Last .400 Hitter, Cryonics is the Longest Shot," by Michael Janofsky, The New York Times (July 10, 2002).  (Requires free registration.)

The Alcor Life Extension Foundation.  Operator of the Scottsdale, Arizona, facility where Williams's body is residing, at a one-time cost of $120,000.  (Heads only are $50,000.)
"Freezing Ted Williams," on All Things Considered, National Public Radio (July 9, 2002). 
(In RealAudio.)

Ted Williams items for sale on eBay.  A rapidly growing list.  As of this writing (July 14, 2002, 12:18 p.m. EDT), there were 5,270 items listed on 106 pages, but (so far as I could tell) no DNA.

The Ted Williams page at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame in Hernando, Florida.  Includes an online gift shop.

The Ted Williams Tunnel.  Opened in 1995, this tunnel, which doubles the number of lanes available for motor vehicle traffic underneath Boston Harbor, is the first completed section of Boston's "Big Dig" highway project.

"Ted Williams," a profile by Mark Miller on Salon.com (October 2000).

www.tedwilliams.com.  At the moment this site has a simple one-screen obituary for Ted Williams.

The Cryonics Institute.  Discount freezing for $28,000 (rush jobs +25%).

Cryonics from Merkle.com (that's Ralph Merkle, the nanotechnology guru, not Fred Merkle, the baseball player of "Merkle's boner" fame).  A dispassionate analysis and recently updated list of links.

"Cryonics Over Dead Geeks' Bodies," by Michelle Delio, Wired News (July 20, 2001).

Cryonics Links from the Open Directory.  A lengthy list.

Cryonics.  Another discussion, analysis and page of links, this one by Anders Sandberg of Sweden.

The Human Cloning Foundation.  Describes itself as "the official site in support of human cloning."

Policy Brief on Human Cloning by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Center for Science, Technology & Congress.

"The Quest for Immortality:  Treasures of Ancient Egypt," an exhibition at the U.S. National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC).  A different take on life extension, from pre-cryonics days (circa 1550 BC).