If there was ever more pressure on a team to win a single game that wasn’t a must-win, it was Game 1 of the Boston Red Sox-Oakland A’s series. It was a “guarantee,” if all the sports talk was believed, that if the Sox did not win that game with Pedro Martinez on the mound, the series was over.

The Sox may not win the series, but that was not the end-all game. More vital was the letdown of an extra-inning loss with the same old bullpen problems that have plagued the club all year. The issue of throwing Game 3 scheduled starter Derek Lowe in relief (42 pitches) and having John Burkett, the Game 4 starter, up in the pen shows just how unreliable Grady Little believes the pen to be.

That left no good long relief man for Thursday with the “you never know what it will be” knuckler Tim Wakefield starting. It wasn’t a pretty start and the Sox were naked in the pen.

The Sox do not have the pitching and there is a reason why the baseball adage goes on. Good pitching beats good hitting in a short series.

Nevertheless, MLB could not have asked for more to begin the postseason. The Red Sox and Chicago Cubs have injected the interest of the casual fans who would not otherwise watch. The first Cubs-Atlanta Braves game had a new ratings high for a division series game on Fox.

Game 1 of the Sox and A’s drew a 5 rating on ESPN, unheard of at any time of day, much less from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. EST.

The Twins are another underdog attracting casual fans, especially those who want to root against the Yankees.

It will be a real loss in the ratings game if the Cubs and/or Sox are out after the division round, but that shows the drawing power of old franchises that are a story in and of themselves.

On another front, the radical right-wing talk show host, whose name will never be printed in this column, has left the ESPN Sunday Night Football show. His departure came for racial comments made on the air that implied Philadelphia’s African-American quarterback was there not on talent, but because of his color.

ESPN wanted controversy. The radical wanted publicity. You use me and I’ll use you. All involved should be embarrassed.

It was written in stone that he had one agenda – himself. He was going to use the football studio show to promote one thing – himself.

So whacked is this guy that he now claims he must have spoken the truth or there wouldn’t be all this clamor. Not unexpected that he would say such a thing. He would rather ignore most facts that don’t fit his political agenda.

Perhaps he should note that in this country there is a civil rights movement that has raised a lot of clamor when racists were lynching, segregating, and burning crosses. Racism in every form has brought clamor from people who value human rights.

His “sporting” comment that an NFL team would start an African-American quarterback over another of more talent who might be white was a situation he then tried to blame on the press. Just a reminder, sports fans, that the battle against racism goes on inside and outside the lines.

Broadcast outlets have an overriding obligation to ensure that opinions are heard. However, it should be no surprise that inserting a political extremist into a sports broadcast for ratings purposes would result in just this occurrence.

Sad. Disgusting. Irresponsible. Apply where appropriate.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and NBC sportscaster.