It was 11 a.m. when Roger Clemens strolled into the visitors' clubhouse at Comerica Park two weeks ago, just 90 minutes before the Yankees were to begin a baseball marathon -- a day-night doubleheader with the Tigers.

	Roger Clemens acknowledges the Yankee Stadium crowd after ringing up Toronto's Luis Lopez for his 3,641st strikeout, moving him into fourth place on the all-time list.

Sleep was in short supply everywhere: you saw it in the heavy eyelids and purple crescents beneath them. The Rocket, however, was set to enjoy a day off, since his next start was still 24 hours away. That all changed, however, when the Yankees realized rookie right-hander Adrian Hernandez was running a 101-degree fever and couldn't take the mound.

The Yankees had few alternatives, considering they'd just played a 12-inning game against the Phillies. Joe Torre was so desperate for an arm, he considered asking rookie reliever Todd Williams to pitch -- despite the fact he hadn't started a game in five years.

Clemens took all of five seconds to digest the mini-crisis and ended it with one simple declaration. He walked into Torre's office and said, "Give me the ball."

No matter that the 38-year-old Clemens would be pitching on three days' rest, or that he'd worked out hard in the weight room the day before. That made no difference to the Rocket, who cryptically said, "When you have a chance to take the ball for the world champs, you take the ball." Whether Clemens intended to wound Hernandez with his words ... well, no one knew for sure, but the point was made. The Rocket knew the Yankees needed help, and as the Bombers' ace and American League's biggest winner in 2001, it was his responsibility to pitch.

Paul O'Neill shook his head in awe, saying, "It's just another thing you put in your personal notebook about how much respect you have for a guy."

That sentiment is echoed in every quadrant of the Yankee clubhouse -- universal respect for a Hall of Fame pitcher who, while he remains somewhat aloof and mysterious, has clearly earned one-of-us status from his teammates.

That's no small achievement for Clemens, considering he was once so hated, both with Boston and Toronto. It was Clemens who, by hitting Scott Brosius, started a vicious on-field brawl between the Yankees and Jays in 1998. It ended with Darryl Strawberry standing at the top step of Toronto's dugout, challenging the Rocket to step on the field and fight.

	Roger Clemens Starting Pitcher New York Yankees Profile
	2001 SEASON STATISTICS GM W-L IP H K ERA 21 14-1 142.2 138 139 3.72

The Yankees have since learned that Clemens is no monster, although he's hardly accessible, either. As Derek Jeter put it, "He totally disappears for 3-4 days between his starts. He's never at his locker."

Instead, Clemens is in the weight room, where he fanatically devotes himself to his fitness-and-conditioning program. Anecdotes of the Rocket's strength and stamina are legendary, but it does create an iron rule for reporters who cover the Yankees: If you want face time with the Rocket, you better move fast. He travels in a straight line between the clubhouse and the weight room, which is off-limits to the media. And while Clemens will answer questions, he rarely, if ever, lowers the wall to his innermost thoughts. No one, not even the Yankees themselves, truly knows what Clemens was thinking when he hurled that broken bat at Mike Piazza in the Subway Series last October. Some Bombers suggest Clemens himself didn't know. As one veteran observed, "Roger is in another world when he's pitching. He's there, but he's not there."

Even in quieter, more composed moments, Clemens is cautious, well aware of how closely scrutinized he is. The Rocket knows he's considered a traitor in Boston, and made enemies by forcing the Blue Jays to trade him before the 1999 season. So Clemens keeps his quotes short and non-inflammatory, and declines interviews on the day before he pitches, not just the day of his starts.

But the pitcher's friends say he's intensely driven by reaching 300 career wins and a certain election to the Hall of Fame. The Rocket also takes satisfaction in outperforming and outlasting David Wells, a cult hero in New York, whose trade to the Blue Jays was met with intense criticism by Boomer loyalists.

One Yankee player said, "Roger's been working like crazy the last two years to be accepted here, to show people the trade (for Wells) was a good one."

Indeed, Clemens finally won his acceptance in the Bronx by beating the Braves in Game 4 of the '99 World Series, walking off the mound to a standing ovation after allowing just one run in 7.2 innings, and helping the Yankees finish a four-game sweep.

That berth in the Yankee landscape became permanent on July 23 against the Jays, when Clemens took sole possession of fourth-place on the all-time strikeout list.

The Rocket struck out Luis Lopez, No. 3,641 of his career, setting off a touching moment at the Stadium -- a five-minute ovation that moistened Clemens' eyes.

The game came to a halt and, with the Stadium's PA system blaring Elton John's "Rocket Man," Clemens pointed to the dugout, acknowledging Torre and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre. Clemens gestured to each one of his teammates in the field, and then Clemens waved his appreciation at the fans -- the same ones who cursed him for so many years.

"You have to remember that people didn't like him for a long time in this town, with him wearing that Red Sox uniform," Torre said. "New York fans appreciate what Roger is all about. He certainly has given them reason to embrace him."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) covers baseball for ESPN.com.