From the beginning, Hank Steinbrenner liked Joe Girardi and supported the man anointed to follow Joe Torre, who won four World Series and went to six as the Yankees’ manager.

“He reminds me of Billy Martin as a manager. He has some fire,’’ Steinbrenner said before Girardi’s debut season in 2008.

Tuesday, Girardi recalled his relationship with Steinbrenner, who passed away early that morning in Clearwater, Fla., due to a long-standing health issue — not COVID-19. He was 63.

“I’m sure it helped me coming into being the manager of the Yankees because he loved the game,’’ Girardi said from his South Florida home about Steinbrenner liking him. “Hank knew the game and he knew players. I think Hank kind of appreciated the way I went about my business as a player. Hank was someone you could sit around and talk baseball all day to, and I appreciated that, I really did.’’

Steinbrenner wasn’t as loud as his legendary father George, but he wasn’t quiet, either. However, Girardi didn’t see that side of the son.

“I didn’t see those similarities. What I saw from Hank was his love for the game more than anything else. That completely shined through with him,’’ Girardi said. “Even though I didn’t see Hank a lot, I felt a connection with Hank because of his love of the game. And when he was around, that is all we talked about.’’

With Girardi the manager, Steinbrenner was the Yankees’ general partner. During the early days of Girardi’s era, Steinbrenner was more active in baseball matters than he was later in life.

Asked how Steinbrenner reacted after the Yankees beat Philadelphia in the 2009 World Series, Girardi, now the Phillies’ manager, said, “He was excited, very congratulatory.’’

According to Girardi, Steinbrenner’s love of the game included his feelings for former Yankees.

“I know he had a real connection with some of the players in the ’70s and the ’80s and I know he was close to Reggie [Jackson],’’ Girardi said.

Girardi saw more of Steinbrenner at the stadium in Tampa named after his father than in The Bronx.

“We didn’t see a lot of him. I saw more of him more early than later,’’ Girardi said. “I would see him at spring training more than I would maybe in New York.”