Clemens Gives First Interview Since Acquittal

HOUSTON (97.1 THE TICKET/CBS) - The Roger Clemens perjury trial ended Monday with not-guilty verdicts on all six charges.

Tuesday night Clemens gave an exclusive interview to Houston's 'Odd Couple'  Shaun Bijani and Barry Warner on KILT- 610 AM.

Over a span of almost two months, jurors heard testimony from an array of witnesses in a trial that was expected to last half as long as it did. They were to determine Clemens' guilt or innocence on counts of perjury, making false statements and obstructing Congress for denying use of performance-enhancing drugs in his 2008 testimony.

"The most interesting thing was talking to a few of the jurors after... and hear their perspective (on the case)," said Clemens. "They had it dead on."

Clemens said that some of the jurors thought it was important to listen to how Clemens answered questions about  performance-enhancing drug use before he testified.

Clemens said he went to Congress but it's comical to say it was voluntary to speak to Congress ... "If I didn't talk to them they would have subpoenaed me," he said.

Clemens said more than once that "we opened our doors to them" and basically he felt that they did not want to hear what he had to say, and were going to manipulate the testimony regardless.

Ultimately, the government's case likely depended too much on the testimony of Clemens' former trainer Brian McNamee, a man whose checkered past made him a highly dubious witness.

Clemens maintained his innocence, sticking to his claim that he never used performance-enhancing drugs.

There's also the matter of Clemens' Hall of Fame case. Based on the numbers alone (354-184, 3.12 ERA, 4,672 strikeouts), Clemens is, of course, a no-doubt, inner-circle choice, but will this verdict somewhat reconstruct his image in the eyes of those who vote for the Hall?

That question will be answered in January when the 2013 Hall of Fame class is announced. Clemens will be on the ballot for the first time, along with Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza and Sammy Sosa, among others.