by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Roger Clemens versus the White Sox had been a fixture baseball fans were used to seeing in the playoffs.
This year, that is the case in the World Series, but neither the New York Yankees nor the Boston Red Sox are playing in the Fall Classic.
Clemens and the Houston Astros face off against the other Sox - the Chicago White Sox - a matchup that has never happened before in the World Series.
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That's because 2005 is the first year the Astros have ever been to the series, and the first time since 1959 that Chicago has made it.
There is no doubt that both cities are starving for a championship, as the White Sox have not been World Champions since 1917.
Heading into Tuesday night, Houston was in a must-win situation, falling down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Don't count the Astros out, however - especially with their pitching staff and the fact that the next three games will be played in their home ballpark with National League rules.
During the regular season, the Astros were 57-29 at home, and top ace Roy Oswalt will take the mound for Houston in game three.
Oswalt has been the only pitcher in all of baseball to win at least 20 games in each of the past two seasons, and he was the MVP for the National League Championship Series, going 2-0 against the favored and powerful Cardinals.
If Oswalt can win game three, and the Astros can down the Sox in game four, then Clemens, perhaps baseball's most prolific active pitcher, would be the starter in game five.
During the regular season, Clemens led the majors with a 1.87 ERA, and if he does get the ball, there is potential for Houston to be leading the series 3-2 when it returns to Chicago.
The future Hall-of-Famer has ripped the hearts out of Sox fans before, and this year he can do it again.
You would think with a 2-0 lead the White Sox would be heavy favorites to win their first World Championship in nearly a century.
However, with the way the next few games are set up, look for Houston to come from behind and crush the White Sox faithful yet again.
Brace yourselves, White Sox.
