What has been done to Williams ' good name since his death at age 83 in 2002 is heartbreaking . First there was the very public battle within his family about what to do with his body ; when it was entrusted to a facility that specializes in cryonics -- freezing -- there were tasteless gags all over television . Now there is the nauseating voyeurism surrounding these new allegations . They are unspeakable , and I will not repeat them here . He has been made a joke . It is as if there has been a conscious effort to rob him of his humanity . As if he is a punch line , as if he was never a person with thoughts and feelings . No one deserves this , and certainly not Ted Williams . A magnificent 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox ; twice the winner of baseball 's triple crown ; the last ballplayer to hit .400 in a season ; two tours of duty in the military in World War II and the Korean War ... This is the man whose right to rest in respectful peace is being stripped from him .
Editor 's note : CNN contributor Bob Greene is a best-selling author whose new book is `` Late Edition : A Love Story . '' Bob Greene says discussion of ballplayer Ted Williams ' corpse is a shameful way to remember the superstar . -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` I was scared , '' Ted Williams said . He was talking about his lifelong fear of not being good enough -- of coming up short . `` I was always afraid I might fail , '' he said . `` I was pictured as being so cocky -- I might have been cocky to some people , but not in my heart . All the time , I was just hoping to make whatever league I was in . '' I am thinking about a long conversation I had with Williams toward the end of his life . I 'm thinking about it because of the unconscionable thing that is being done to him now that he is gone , now that he is without any defenses . You may have heard about a new book that makes some cruel and repugnant allegations about the mistreatment of his remains .