Tip Fairchild believes his idol and mentor, Roger Clemens, when he denies allegations by his former trainer that he used steroids.

“I know him as a person. He’s done a lot of good things for me. I’ve seen how he works. I’ve never seen him do anything bad. I can’t say a bad word about him,” Fairchild said.

He got to meet Clemens when he was a teammate with the 300-game winner’s son in the Houston Astros’ minor league system. Clemens worked out with the Lexington Legends when his son and Fairchild were teammates on the Astros’ single-A affiliate in 2006 and pitched in a couple of games for them as he prepared for a mid-season comeback with the Astros. While there, he bonded with Fairchild and a number of other pitching prospects, and they kept in touch. Clemens offered some words of encouragement to Fairchild when he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last May (see related story).

Fairchild said he hasn’t talked to Clemens since the seven-time Cy Young Award winner was named in the Mitchell Report late last month. He hopes to catch up with him and offer his support either when he goes to Houston next week or when he heads to spring training in Florida next month.

Until then, he said, he’ll only go by what he’s heard coming out of Clemens’ mouth during a recent ’60 Minutes’ interview and the press conference Clemens held the following day.

“I don’t care what ESPN is reporting or whoever is reporting. I just want to hear his side,” he said.

In the Mitchell Report, Brian McNamee, Clemens’ former personal trainer, claims that he injected Clemens with performance enhancing substances multiple times from 1998-2001. Clemens denied the allegations first in a statement issued by his agent, then in a video statement, then in the nationally-televised interview with Mike Wallace and a press conference the next day.

Fairchild believes Clemens’ frequent and vehement public denials lend credibility to his case.

“He wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t innocent, if you ask me,” he said. “He’s risking a lot doing it this way. I just feel like he’s denying it so hard that he’s got to be telling the truth.”

He said Clemens has been singled out by the media and Congress, which has called on the pitcher to testify at a hearing on steroids scheduled for Feb. 13.

“His name was the biggest, so they’re obviously going to go after the biggest fish,” he said.

The New England fans and media have been particularly eager to judge Clemens, he said.

“Everybody up here still kind of has hard feelings for Clemens. Whenever I listen to anything up here or read anything up here, everyone just bashes Clemens. Is it different in Texas? Is it different in New York? I wonder if it’s as big of a deal,” he said. “But everyone in New England is going to jump on board and say he’s guilty.”

“I guess I’d tell people to wait until it’s all over and then make your judgments,” he added. “Just hear him out and see what happens.”