MLB

BABY BOSS LIKES WHAT HE SEES

Hank Steinbrenner had the best seat in the house last night, perched in the owner’s box for the first time as the Yankees’ new honcho, and loved what he saw.

Strong pitching, a big home run, clutch defense. It all translated into a 3-2 opening-night victory over the Blue Jays in the first game of the Joe Girardi/Boss Jr. era.

Steinbrenner, the new face of the organization, spent much of the game seated in the front row of the owner’s box, soaking in the sights and sounds of the final Stadium opener.

“You really can feel it from the fans, this year especially,” Steinbrenner said as he sat in the passenger’s seat of a car outside the Stadium, a beer in his left hand. “You can feel the excitement and fever of the fans. That really is like a 10th player out there.”

Though Steinbrenner was happy for Girardi, he didn’t bother to visit with the manager afterward to offer congratulations. Steinbrenner, in fact, avoided complete contact with his manager yesterday.

“I saw him all of spring training,” Steinbrenner said.

While pointing to the “big two” of Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera as the best thing he saw last night, Steinbrenner was also happy with the strong start the Yanks received from Chien-Ming Wang and Melky Cabrera’s contributions, both offensively and defensively.

Cabrera made two highlight reel catches in the fourth inning and hit a solo homer in the sixth to tie the game.

Steinbrenner would have missed the opener had it been played as scheduled Monday – he remained in Tampa to finish personal business – but was thrilled to make the rescheduled game last night.

He said his father, George, paid a visit to the new stadium across the street and was impressed with what he saw.

Hank Steinbrenner indicated the Yankees will go as far as their young pitchers take them this season. Phil Hughes is scheduled to start on Thursday with Ian Kennedy slated for the following night. And don’t forget Chamberlain.

“They have to be brought along a certain way,” Steinbrenner said. “The trash is littered with 20-(something) pitchers all throughout baseball history. Their arms fell off. It’s something we’re not going to allow to happen.

“When it comes to the postseason hopefully they’ll really be ready. Joba will be, of course, a starter by then and hopefully he can be our 22-year-old [Josh] Beckett when he was with the Marlins.”

mpuma@nypost.com