As he neared his 300th win, Roger Clemens agreed to an exclusive interview with The Post’s George King, in which Clemens recalled some of the highlights of his incredible career.

On when he had an idea he would pitch in the big leagues:

I was eight, playing on a nine-year-old team. I punched out the side on nine pitches and my proud mother that she is to this day, she said she knew back then.

I knew I had a chance to play major league ball when I got drafted by the Mets. I didn’t sign. I furthered my education at [the University of] Texas. We were coming down to the last week of the season before we went to the College World Series and I was hearing about teams who wanted to draft me. It was then that I realized it was going to become a reality.

On his greatest baseball moment:

Obviously, the walk down the tunnel [from the clubhouse] to sit on the dugout bench, realizing I was going to be part of a World Championship team [1999]. Mo [Mariano Rivera] was coming in to pitch after I got stepped on at first base and had to come out of the game [in the eighth inning]. I went [to the clubhouse] to change and found out my mother had exhausted herself and they had to get her out of [Yankee Stadium] in the fifth or sixth inning because she wasn’t breathing properly. I called her from [Joe Torre’s] office and she told me, ‘You are fixing to be a champion so get down there and watch and bring me a broom [for the four-game sweep].’ That first championship, that’s what you play for at this level.

On his second-greatest baseball moment:

The first time I punched out 20 [April 29, 1986 against the Mariners]. I had come back after shoulder surgery [August, 1985], which was pretty devastating because I had to shut it down in 1985. I was throwing 94 mph and I would get to the fifth inning and couldn’t throw the ball 30 feet. That was in the middle of the game. My velocity went straight down.

On his third-greatest baseball moment (one-hit, 15-strikeout shutout of the Mariners in Game 4 of the 2000 ALCS):

That was a game where I had all things working. Obviously it was a more meaningful game because it was on a grander stage. To me it was as big as Game 3 [of the 2001 World Series] when we were down, 2-0, as far as being pressure packed and you can’t afford a mistake.

On the Mike Piazza beaning and bat-throwing incidents:

I am an emotional pitcher. I have always relied on emotions. My physical ability and my mental ability rise to the occasion, that’s what makes me who I am. I still get [ticked] when they say I threw the bat at the man. I would never have done that. Just like I wouldn’t hit a guy in the head on purpose.

You pitch inside to claim the plate. I tell the young pitchers that, you have to pitch inside or you are not going to be successful. You pitch inside not to hit hitters but to extend the plate. You make a 17-inch plate a 24-inch plate. The hitter wants to get comfortable in the box and I don’t want him to be comfortable.

But I would defy any pitcher to stand out there and say they are intentionally trying to hurt another guy. He has a career, he has a family, and it would be absurd to even think that. I have family and it [ticks] them off, too.”

On his celebrity status:

I remember from Day One, when I came [to New York], people were saying, ‘Thank you for coming here.’ They stopped me at a restaurant or in my car. I didn’t have something to do with it because I was traded here, but I said, ‘Thanks.’

On his ability to go out in New York:

I can because I command respect and I give it back. That’s the way I was taught. I love it and love everything that goes with it. I deal with everything off the field like any other human being. It doesn’t make any difference what income bracket or anything. You get back what you give and I have gotten a lot back. I have gotten a lot more back than I have given.

On his four sons:

My oldest one [16-year-old Koby] just started pitching [in high school] and he came in and slinged his keys across the room. He was very upset. They lost the game 12-10. I said, ‘Hey, somebody else gave up 10 runs and you will be right back in there tomorrow.’ I had to pull out all the stops, all the pitching guru statements that [Yankee pitching coach] Mel [Stottlemyre] uses on us.

I am just Dad to them. I am not the Rocket. The boys will bring a handful of guys over to the house and I am sitting in my shorts and T-shirt eating cereal and they say, ‘Hey, there’s my dad’ and they go play.

On pitchers he studied while growing up:

I watched Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver for the most part and a little bit of Bob Gibson and Don Drysdale. Not just on TV. They had them in books. My mom tells the story that I had 8-by-10 photos stapled to the wall. They weren’t pictures, they were torn out of magazines.

On his pitching coaches:

Bill Fischer and Mel [Stottlemyre] are the two best I have worked under. I did have Seaver on the bench for half of [the 1986] season and I drew some information out of him.

On the 1986 World Series nightmare against the Mets:

We didn’t feel we played bad enough to lose so it didn’t hit me until two weeks after when you are at home and you see the highlights and you can’t believe it.

On Boston:

I have mementos all over my house. Boston is my past and it’s a great past.

On leaving Boston as a free agent after the 1996 season:

I was looking for four years at $4 million per, which would have been a huge pay cut for me, but I [didn’t] mind because I [was] going to finish [with the Red Sox]. [Agents] Alan and Randy [Hendricks] said, ‘[GM Dan Duquette] offered you a $1.5 million guaranteed [for one year] with a chance to make $4 million.’ So [leaving] was an easy decision. What a relief it was for me. In 10 days, we had five teams that were offering me $30 million plus for three and four years.