ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
The man called the greatest living pitcher offered yet another public defense today against allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Over the weekend, Roger Clemens appeared on "60 Minutes" and filed a suit against his former trainer. Clemens is one of 90 baseball players named in last year's Mitchell Report, which detailed baseball's steroid problem.
Joining us is NPR's sports correspondent Tom Goldman.
Tom, this was Roger Clemens's first appearance before a large group of reporters since the Mitchell Report. What did he say?
TOM GOLDMAN: Well, as a matter fact, Robert, he's still talking - what has happened so far at this press conference in Houston. The most dramatic part was Clemens and his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, played a tape made between - of a phone conversation last week between Clemens and Brian McNamee. He is the personal trainer who made the allegations in the Mitchell Report that he had injected Roger Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone several times over three seasons. Clemens knew this phone conversation was recorded, McNamee apparently didn't, and both men, obviously, are in pain. They're uncomfortable. There are long pauses. It's very emotional.
And the striking part of it is that McNamee keeps asking, desperately at times, to Clemens, what do you want me to do? And Clemens never says - he never comes - he never says to McNamee - excuse - come out and tell everyone you lied when you made the allegations. Now, Clemens's lawyer points out that Clemens keeps saying, I didn't do it. I didn't do it. I didn't take the drugs, and McNamee never responds by saying, yes, you did. But, again, Clemens never directly confronts McNamee and says, why did you say this about me?
SIEGEL: Now, Clemens, through his lawyers, has taken the offensive and brought a defamation suit against McNamee. What can you tell us about the suit?
GOLDMAN: Yeah, you know, it feels almost like one of Roger Clemens's high heaters, those fastballs he throws. He is coming out and unequivocally saying no to everything that Brian McNamee said in the Mitchell Report. The lawsuit details 15 statements McNamee made to the Mitchell commission, and it labels all of them, quote, "absolutely false and defamatory," unquote. The lawsuit says McNamee was bullied by federal agents into testifying that Clemens used banned performance-enhancing drugs, saying that the federal agents had it out for Clemens and threatened McNamee with jail time on steroid distribution charges if he didn't finger Clemens.
SIEGEL: Did Clemens explain why he didn't file that suit sooner than a month after the Mitchell report went public?
GOLDMAN: Yeah, you know, before they played that tape today that I was just mentioning, his lawyer, Rusty Hardin, came out and explained that in detail - why it didn't happen. It was basically, Hardin said, under his advice to Clemens not to talk publicly. He said that Clemens, all along, had said he was innocent, he was ready to come out and meet the cameras, meet the microphones, meet the reporters, but Hardin knew the stakes in this game and he wanted to make sure that everyone was comfortable before Clemens made a very public statement, which is why it took so long.
SIEGEL: Well, given their statements, McNamee and Clemens cannot both be telling the truth. One of them is lying.
GOLDMAN: It would seem that way, and it seems to be an incredibly high-stakes game going on here. When you think about the reputation of Roger Clemens, he is so forcefully denying this and is, you know, he's suing now for defamation; that means he will have to sit down with lawyers and tell the truth under oath. And if he's not telling the truth, he would be charged with perjury; that's pretty striking.
SIEGEL: Okay. Thank you, Tom.
GOLDMAN: You're welcome.
SIEGEL: That's NPR's sports correspondent Tom Goldman.