One small step down,

World Series championship — and not just being known as Aaron ‘Bleepin’ Boone, 2003 playoff hero.

A lot to ask for a rookie skipper, no doubt. But the pieces are mostly in place, with reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton complementing a homegrown core that includes Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Luis Severino.

Now, it’s on Boone to shine like he did during the interview process, when team officials felt he was the best of the bunch: a personable, smart communicator who would collaborate with the front office and embrace analytics. All of those attributes, they felt, were more than enough to overcome the fact that he’s never done this before.

For his part, Boone is embracing expectations, as well as the adjustment process of going from the broadcast booth into the dugout. It’s going to take time.

He’s eventually going to face adversity in the form of a losing streak, and he’s eventually going to be criticized after his first miscue. How he handles everything that comes with this high-profile, highpressure job will go a long way toward determining whether Brian Cashman and Co. got this hire right.

Friday was only the beginning of the process.

As Boone jokingly told veteran manager Ron Gardenhire before the game: “Take it easy on me.”

“When we were exchanging lineup cards, I didn’t want to look him in the