Yankees manager Joe Girardi took a timeout in the middle of a pennant race for some Q&A with Post columnist Steve Serby.

Q: Are you hungry, driven, desperate to win your second World Series here as a manager?

A: Always. If we had won six, I’d be hungry for my seventh.

Q: Why do you think that is?

A: Because it’s just the competitive spirit that I have.

Q: Where does that competitive spirit come from? Your mom? Your dad?

A: Both. And I think having older siblings, and fighting for everything.

Q: How miserable have the last two Octobers been for you watching the playoffs?

A: I don’t [watch]. I may have it on in the background, but if we’re not in it, I don’t want to watch it. You put the uniform on to win.

Q: There is only one New York Yankees manager in the world. What is it like being manager of the New York Yankees?

A: I don’t ever think of it like that. People talk to me about managing the Yankees … to me, managing is managing in a sense. Your job is to get the most out of the people that are under you. So whether I was in Florida, or helping coach my daughter’s team, or my son’s team, it’s trying to get the most out of the players. I think you get so caught up sometimes in the game, and what you have to do, you never think of, “Wow, I’m in New York,” that sort of thing. I know I’m truly blessed to be able to put this uniform on — that I understand. But I think the demands of the job … that’s not something that you really spend any time thinking about. You think about, “How do you prepare to win this game today?” and “Who do we have?” and “Who are we gonna use today?” and “Let’s go to work.”

Q: But it’s a huge responsibility, carrying the hopes of dreams of Yankees fans around the world.

A: Yeah. … You know, probably it’s good that I don’t think about that. Because to me, the most difficult pressure you deal with is the pressure that comes from within.

Q: You were that way as a player too, right?

A: Correct. The expectations that I have on myself and … obviously the relationships are extremely important to me around here. But I understand what my job is. My job is to win games. But that’s why I’ve always put the uniform on.

Q: How do you think you’re a better manager now than when you first took this job?

A: I think I’ve had an opportunity to go through so many more situations, and have a better understanding of the realm of the job, the different hats that you have to put on. You’re different in a sense because you’re front office and player in a sense. … As a player, I was just a player, and I didn’t worry about anything else. As a front office person, you have your job and there’s somewhat of a separation. But I have to do both. Because I have to make tough decisions. At times during the season I’ve told players, “I know I’m gonna disappoint you. But look, I’m doing what I think is the best for the team, and that’s my job. So, just like I give you slack sometimes, you gotta cut the manager some slack sometimes,” because my ideas aren’t gonna always work. They’ll be well thought out, and they’ll have input from a lot of different people, but because there’s a human element in the game, it’s not always gonna work. So as a group, we try to put everyone in the best situation, and we go from there.

Q: How do you handle the stress of the job?

A: I think having a great family really helps me. My wife [Kimberly] and I have been married over 25 years and we have three wonderful kids that … they let me forget about my job. Just going to the Hope Week, going to the [Prospector] Theater for two hours, it turned my brain off from, “OK, what’s our lineup today?” “Who do I have in the bullpen today?” That sorta thing. Which was really nice. And working out is really one of my big releases.

Q: Every day you work out?

A: No, it’s three days on, one day off.

Q: Are you lighter than you were when you played?

A: A few pounds. Where I’ve lost my size really is in my lower half, my legs aren’t as big. But I’m not squatting 250 times a day.

Q: Your diet?

A: It’s pretty much the same. I don’t eat quite as much as I used to. When I used to eat a dozen egg whites in the morning, it’s down to like six. Because I don’t exert as much energy.

Q: How much sleep do you try to get?

A: It ranges probably from 4 hours to about 7¹/₂, 8 hours. Because the one thing that I never want to do is neglect my job as a husband and a father, so there are nights that we get in late, but I’m still gonna take my kids to school. People always say in September, “You look tired.” Well, there are a lot of days I am tired because we might have gotten home from a road trip at 4, and I’m up at 7 o’clock taking my daughter to school. If I don’t take her to school, I don’t see her the whole day.

Q: After a tough loss, what is a car ride home like for you?

A: It’s usually just listening to another ball game on the radio (chuckle). Which kinda brings back fond memories ’cause I used to do that with my father. It’s where my interest is. I really don’t get on the phone much ’cause it’s usually late, and I usually call my family before I leave [the stadium]. But it’s just kind of a relaxing ride home where I try to wind down and listen to a ball game.

Q: You don’t take the game home with you?

A: Most of the times I don’t. I try not to. I’m here 45 minutes to an hour after the game, and then a half an hour ride home. It’s usually gone, and it’s more thinking about, “OK, what do we do tomorrow?”

Q: Alex Rodriguez says you have the discipline of a Navy SEAL and the mind of Einstein.

A: (Chuckle) I don’t know about that. I think I have always been pretty disciplined in what I do, and that was something that I was fortunate enough to learn at home. I saw a very disciplined mother and father, and my brothers and sisters were very disciplined and pragmatic about how they got everything done. I’m a routine guy, and if I get out of my routine, I don’t like it. And as far as Einstein, I’m no Einstein, but I do love numbers. My favorite subject in school was always math. My favorite math class was probably calculus, and I just loved it, and I like studying the numbers. And I did it as a player to try to gain an edge, because I knew from a physical standpoint, I wasn’t as gifted as a lot of other people that were on the field, so I had to do whatever I could to be prepared and try to outthink them, so I did that. And it’s just worked as a manager too. I love the numbers and diving into them.

Q: How would you describe your leadership style?

A: I think it’s pretty quiet … laid back. I think leadership to me is based on love. If you take the verse from the Bible about what love is: Love is patient, love is kind, I think that all is true in leadership. I try to really be accessible. I want players to know that their life, to me, overall is more important than what their life as a player. … I don’t want them to think that they’re only important to me as a player. No, they’re much more important to me what happens after this.

Q: Do you think you’re better at the interpersonal relationship side of the job than you were when you first started here?

A: I think so, because I think you grow, because you handle a lot more situations. My first managerial job [Marlins, 2006], a lot of my players didn’t have families, ’cause they were so young. So then you come here and a lot of guys have kids, and to me … one of the many things that I learned from my father was the importance of knowing what your father does. And I knew what my father did because he took me to work with him. And I tell my players: “Your kids need to know what you do. So, bring ’em here, and at 4 o’clock, 4:30, once we start our work, then they have to kind of be out.” But I want them to know. I want them around. You need to spend time with them. You know what? Your son has a baseball game, and you’re not playing that day and you’re a pitcher or whatever … not late for the game, but you don’t have to be here, that sort of thing. I want their kids to know what their father does, and they have to be around, they have to be present. My parents were always present. And that’s important to me.

Q: Bill Parcells was too buddy-buddy with the players when he took over as Giants head coach. Did you have to make that adjustment yourself?

A: That was one of the other things that Joe Torre told me. My first coaching job was the bench coach here. And the first thing he told me is, “You’re not a player anymore, because you have to make decisions.” So that was easy for me. I did manage and coach some of the players that I played with, but they were much younger with me than me. So the guys I kind of hung out with, even though we all hung out together and we were a pretty close-knit group of guys, I was with the O’Neills, and the Tinos, that sort of thing, and the younger guys were with the younger guys a lot of times, which is only natural. So, even though we were teammates, there was a little bit of separation just because of age.

Q: Describe Hal Steinnrenner.

A: He’s a great boss. He really is. He really has an interest, he comes and sits with me and talks about how we’re doing, what I think we need, what we’re doing well, what we need to get better. He’s very open, and he’s easy to work for.

Q: Do you think you could have managed for Hal’s dad?

A: I think so. Yeah, I do. Just because he would have seen the competitive nature in me. I think it would have worked.

Q: What’s the key to your relationship with general manager Brian Cashman, and how critical is that relationship?

A: I think the key thing is respect, the respect that we have for each other and our ability to communicate. When you have enough people around, you’re not always gonna agree on everything, and you have to understand that you have to learn to agree to disagree sometimes. But I understand my job, what my job description is — to work with the players that he gives us and do the best we can. His job is to give me the players and he makes recommendations … but we’ve always been close. He’s very easy to talk to. We’ve had disagreements, but you’d never know it, and that’s just part of a relationship. … He’s very open, and when there’s something on the table that needs to be taken care of, he’s great at handling it. He doesn’t leave any stones unturned.

Q: You like to bring outside people in to speak to your teams.

A: We’ve had a number of people come speak to our team, whether it’s [Cowboys coach] Jason Garrett, a Navy SEAL, [former Olympic sprinter] Michael Johnson … we believe in that, because I think different people can really touch players. The one thing about being a manager is, for whatever reason, you may not be getting through to a player. So what do I do? I send one of my coaches. And I think it’s important that you have different people that present different messages because it touches home different for everyone, and I think that’s important. … [Alabama football coach] Nick Saban has been here. I look at Nick, and he’s one of those guys that has a plan, is gonna follow that plan, and is gonna make sure it gets done. And I can be like that too.

Q: You know Giants coach Tom Coughlin?

A: We text and keep in touch.

Q: He’s turning 69 at the end of the month.

A: I think he’s done an extraordinary job. Football coaches, the hours that they put in, and the energy required to do their jobs and the championships that he’s brought … and his ability to relate to players and how he has evolved over the years … because I’m sure being a head coach in the NFL has changed a lot over his tenure because he’s been doing it for so long. And I think it’s amazing how he’s adapted, and gets the most out of his teams every year.

Q: Can you see yourself managing until you’re 69?

A: No. From the physical grind of this game, I just don’t see myself doing it.

Q: What advice would you give Jets coach Todd Bowles for his rookie season in New York?

A: The same advice that Joe Torre gave me — be yourself. Don’t try to be somebody else. Be yourself. Because if you try to be someone else and it doesn’t work out, you’re gonna kick yourself in a sense. What you do might be different than the last head coach, or the coach before that, and I know as a manager I drew from a lot of different people, my style and things that I liked and didn’t necessarily like. But in the end, you have to be yourself.

Q: Favorite inspirational or motivational sayings?

A: I think John Wooden — his Pyramid for Success really sticks out in my heart about what he’s done.

Q: Describe your oldest child Serena.

A: Serena has a lot of me in her. Very focused … likes everything lined up … doesn’t like to get off schedule. … She’s strong-willed. … She’s 15, she’s a great student, probably a better student than I was, and she’s a cheerleader, and she knows what she wants.

Q: Dante?

A: Dante is 13. He’s got a little bit of both of us in him. Extremely competitive … but we’ve described him as like a Labrador retriever — very loyal, sticks up for people a lot. But has a lot of fight in him.

Q: He’s playing baseball, right?

A: Baseball, football, basketball, all of them.

Q: What positions?

A: Baseball, he’s an infielder — he’ll play short, second or third, whatever the team needs. Football, he’s a running back, defensive back, and basketball he’s a guard.

Q: And Lena?

A: Lena [8] is my wife over and over. Just a bundle of energy. Sharp as a tack. Very athletic. Plays against the boys in a lot of sports — she plays boys’ baseball.

Q: Scouting report on your wife Kim, and why she’s the perfect mate for you.

A: She’s the perfect mate for me because she loves sports. She’s always loved baseball. She’s extremely bright. She’s a great mother. She’s great at relationships though. She understands the importance of keeping relationships on the up and up. But maybe one of her best traits is I am not a risk-taker, and she is. And it really works, because she provides a lot of excitement in our life. For example, I would never hang glide over the water. … She will. She wants to ride in the first car of the roller coaster. I’ll sit on the bench down below. I can remember when we were in college, she would wake up in her sorority at 6:30 in the morning, I’m telling you, the energy level was off the charts, just like my youngest daughter Lena, and come wake me up, and say, “Let’s go to breakfast.” I’m like, “It’s 6:30 in the morning. We’re in college. What are you doing?”

Q: Describe Hope Week 2015.

A: The different opportunities we’ve had to recognize people that have done some extraordinary things and really give back to a community, and I had a chance to go to the Prospector Theater in Ridgefield, Conn., where it was a theater that was basically restored by a family, and Val [Jensen, the founder] is really the ringleader behind it, and she has only hired people with disabilities basically. She has basically 100 employees and there’s five theaters there. … She gives people a lot of hope every day that can come in and feel productive, but also feel safe in their working environment, knowing that people aren’t necessarily gonna stare. … It was really neat, and just to see the enjoyment, these young adults working, was really special to me.

Q: What do you like best about this team right now?

A: How close they are. How they stick together. We go through bad times and they stick together and they stick together, and they pull for each other, and there’s no selfishness. It is just a really good group to be around.

Q: What do you hope the fans say about you?

A: That he did the best job he could.

Q: What is your definition of a New York Yankee?

A: It’s a person that is extremely passionate about the game, and plays the game with the ultimate respect.

Q: Why would I want Joe Girardi in the foxhole with me?

A: Because I’m always gonna fight. I mean, that’s who I am. I’m always gonna fight. I’ve always been a person that is gonna do everything I can to win a game and to fight.

Q: I get the feeling that most of the New York media doesn’t know you that well.

A: Because I don’t really let a lot of people into my personal life, because I think it’s personal. But I’m also very protective. I’m very protective of my players, because I’ve never forgotten how hard the game is to play. And I’m very protective of my family.

Q: What would you want to say to Yankees fans about this team and maybe you wearing a different number on the back of your jersey next year?

A: I appreciate the way they’ve supported this team, and the way they’ve rallied behind this team. I think about the guys in the room, and I just think about what Greg [Bird] said [Wednesday]. I said, “How has your transition been here?” And he said, “The guys have made it easy,” because of the type of teammates they are. And to me, that’s a wonderful clubhouse, and that’s what we’ve rallied around this team. Yeah, there were a lot of questions when this team started. I mean, up and down the lineup, through the pitching staff, and our fans have stuck by us and have supported us wherever we are. And we are extremely grateful.

Q: You must be doing a good job.

A: (Points both hands toward clubhouse) They’re doing a good job.