The image burned into your brain the minute you saw it: Johnny Pesky and Nomar Garciaparra, Red Sox shortstops 60 years apart, walking together off the field at Fenway Park, arm in arm, united forever in their grief and gratitude for Ted Williams. It said something about the timelessness of baseball -- and everything about the man who linked them.

	A moment to remember at Fenway Park.

They loved him not just because he was their friend, but because Williams adored their game, pure and simple. He was a ferocious competitor who was still willing to pass on batting tips to opponents -- because hitting was his calling and he, like his mother, was a missionary. He was devoted to Tom Yawkey , the last MLB owner to integrate, yet Williams was the first to champion the inclusion of Negro Leaguers in the Hall of Fame. Teddy Ballgame was born just before the Sox would win their 1918 (and last) title, but he was never a captive of his era, praising Tony Gwynn with the same gusto as he did Earl Averill.

No, Ted Williams would have none of that they-were-better-back-in-my-day stuff. He'd be the first to acknowledge the lasting greatness of Tiger Woods or the Williams sisters. (The baseball Williams did like to play tennis.) He wouldn't begrudge Barry Bonds the leftfield spot on an all-time team, wouldn't point out the five years he lost while defending a cause higher than the game. Best Damn Hitter Who Ever Lived? Sure, but also The Man Who Loved Baseball.

Baseball will try to do right by The Splinter. All the tributes, all the ceremonies, all the newsreel footage replayed on JumboTrons will seem hollow, though, if stadiums go dark because of a labor dispute. If the players and owners really wanted to honor his memory, they'd pledge not to walk, not to lock out over something as profane as distribution of millions. It was never about the money for Ted; hell, he asked for a pay cut his last year. It was about a game so challenging, so mysterious and so much fun that he'd play it no matter what -- wars, writers, injuries, old age.

It's about Pesky and Nomar walking off the field together.

This article appears in the July 22 issue of ESPN The Magazine.