MLB

BOSS’ SON NEEDS TO REMEMBER THESE ARE THE YANKEES, NOT THE HANK-EES

HANK Steinbrenner was in a question-asking mood over the weekend when he posed this beauty to this newspaper: “Where was Joe’s career in ’95 when my dad hired him?”

The Joe is Joe Torre. The dad is George Steinbrenner. And because he did not like the heat the Yankees front office was enduring due to how the manager departed, Hank decided to answer his own question by insulting Torre’s legacy, saying, “Let’s not forget what my dad did in giving him that opportunity and the great team he was handed.”

With public and media sympathies running strongly pro-Torre in this public divorce, Hank Steinbrenner was trying to leave this clear impression: Who the hell would Joe Torre be without the Yankees?

The response Hank wanted evoked was a losing manager, the implication being Torre was some worthless bum taken off baseball’s welfare line by his father. But Torre also was a self-made, borderline Hall-of-Fame player, a successful broadcaster and a man who exhibited enough leadership skills to be hired four times as a manager.

But if we are in a question-asking mood, here’s one: “Who exactly would Hank Steinbrenner be if his father had not handed off his last name?”

Here is another: Is Hank delusional enough to think he is now running the world’s biggest sports franchise due to his brilliance or because he won the lucky DNA contest?

And just one more: Do you think Hank understands that if he is one-quarter as successful running the franchise the next 12 years that Torre was managing it the past 12 years, then he will be hailed as a baseball genius?

Hank seems like a pleasant guy who let his tongue escape him here. He probably should have just left his public comments to “thanks, Joe.”

The thanks could have been for being so instrumental in swelling Hank’s inheritance. Since Torre was so instrumental in the rise of the franchise’s value from $185 million franchise in 1995 (Financial World magazine) to a $1.2 billion (Fortune magazine), and the rise in attendance from seventh in the AL (1.7 million) to an MLB-best 4.3 million, and the rise of a network (YES) and that new stadium going up near the old one.

When George Steinbrenner was his most familiar feisty self, Torre deflected the abuse of The Boss from the Yankees clubhouse making it a more popular, enticing place to work. That would roughly coincide with when Hank Steinbrenner hid on the family horse farm in Ocala, Fla., rather than work for the Yanks under his oppressive father. It is only now, with his dad diminished, that Hank suddenly has found this brave, public voice.

But he is not the only one trying to stand up for family. Frank Torre was so annoyed by Hank’s statements about his kid brother that he called a reporter yesterday to vent at the same time the Yanks were trying to move on, interviewing Joe Girardi for the managerial opening.

“One of the sons said they made Joe Torre,” Frank said by phone. “My brother had a sensational playing career. Maybe he didn’t have as much financially. But he was well respected. He was making a very good living in the business world. What took place in 12 years with Yankees was tremendous for my brother. But let’s face facts, I am here to report it was very profitable for the Steinbrenner family, too.”

Frank, obviously, advocated his brother’s position, arguing the Yanks’ offer of just one guaranteed year for a cut in base pay was a tacit dismissal not a real proposal to retain Joe as manager. But he also said it is ownership’s “privilege” to hire or fire who they want. Nevertheless, he called Hank Steinbrenner’s descriptions of his brother “pathetic.” He thinks Joe had earned more than money. He thought Joe had earned the right to exit with respect, not backhand slaps.

Hank should pay heed. He is a new front man, and his first baby step was ham-handed and ungrateful, not exactly what entices folks to want to work for you. Perhaps he wants to fire away and take the mantle of his bombastic dad. But in this initial attempt, he was more The Boob than The Boss.

joel.sherman@nypost.com