The Boston Red Sox can take comfort in knowing that media tycoon Rupert Murdoch is in their corner tonight as they face potential elimination from the American League Championship Series at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays. Whether that will help the Sox overcome a 3 games to 1 deficit is doubtful.

Murdoch, who probably prefers rugby or soccer to America's past time, is in a pickle with the World Series that will be broadcast over his Fox network. News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) shareholders, whose holdings plunged more than 60 percent this year, are probably gritting their teeth that the Philadelphia Phillies (my team) defeated ex-Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers to capture the National League championship. Ramirez is one of the game's best known and controversial personalities. Moreover, the Dodgers attract fans from all over the country including older folks who remember them when they were in Brooklyn.

The Red Sox nation are among the most passionate fans in baseball. I bet they are miffed that the ALCS has been relegated to TBS while the much inferior National League basked in the glow of network television. Furthermore. the Red Sox , one of the most storied franchises in sports, are on the verge of being eliminated by a team from Tampa Bay, which gave the world Hooters. Okay, that was Clearwater, but it's close enough.

The name of Chris Coste probably is not familiar to most investors. Heck, most fans of the Philadelphia Phillies never heard of the journeyman catcher until he made the team after languishing in the minors for more than a decade. But even investors who may not know the difference between a baseball and a football should get to know his story.

His road to the major leagues was a rocky one (both literally and metaphorically, like the movie), which is neatly described in his book The 33-Year-Old Rookie:How I Finally Made it to Big Leagues after 11 Years in the Minors. The North Dakota native never gave up on his major league dream even after he suffered setback after setback. He is not a a superstar and does not pretend to be one. Teams, though, need scrappy utility players such as Coste who can produce clutch hits to help them win games. The same is true for investors building a portfolio.

Too often, the superstar stocks like Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) or Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) get all of the glory. But investors also have their reliable utility players that they can count on when the chips are down. Sometimes, like Coste, they have got some wear and tear on them, but they are still worth considering. Here are a few examples:

They say baseball is designed to break the hearts of fans: just when you think all is well, everything collapses around you. For a perfect example of this dictum, look no further than the New York Mets. With 17 games left to play, the Mets had a seven-game lead over the inconsistent Philadelphia Phillies. All in all, a pretty safe lead, right? Wrong!

The Mets lost nine of their last 10 home games -- no one loses nine of 10 at home! Yesterday, the Mets had only to win the final regular season game to win its division, or at least force a one-game playoff with the Phillies. Twenty-year veteran Tom Glavine was given the ball to start against the Florida Marlins. Yeah, that Tom Glavine, who pitched the deciding Game 6 of the 1995 World Series vs. the Cleveland Indians and won 1-0 for the Atlanta Braves!!

But before the second out was recorded in the top half of the first inning, Glavine was gone and the Mets trailed 7-0. It was over and the tears in the stands began to flow. ESPN showed several fans tearing up and watching what should have been a glorious season go the way of the fish -- like in Marlins.

News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch is probably too busy plotting world domination to spend much time worrying about something trivial like baseball -- until now.

America's pastime is about to start post-season play, most of which will be televised on the company's Fox television network. Already, there was one huge surprise as the Philadelphia Phillies overtook the New York Mets to win the National League East. But this isn't the type of surprise that the media mogul probably likes because a team from a smaller media market beat one from a larger one.

Remember that last year's series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers had record-low television ratings. Advertisers pay a premium price for television spots on the World Series because of the huge audience it attracts. Fox probably has guaranteed that the commercials will be seen by a set amount of viewers and must refund money to advertisers if these targets aren't hit.