Ever since he was 12, Todd has always been the star

odd Frazier was made to play for the Yankees. From the time he was 12 years old.

That’s when The Post took a leap of faith and sent me to Connecticut to cover a Little League Regional championship game featuring Toms River East American Little League. If the kids from Jersey won that game they would be going on to Williamsport.

This was 1998 when the Core Four Yankees were at their best. Back then the Little League World Series was not the huge event that it soon became on ESPN, in large part, thanks to Todd Frazier.

So here I was working out of a dirty storage shed, wondering what I had gotten myself into when suddenly I heard singing, disguised as barking: “Who Let the Dogs Out?’’ There was the Toms River East team marching onto the field — singing that song with freckle-faced Todd Frazier woofing and leading the way. I knew then I was in the perfect place for what would become a wonderful end-of-summer hit parade for Frazier and his team, their parents and one proud Jersey Shore town.

This was two long years before that Baha Men song became such an annoying hit.

Turns out Todd’s older brother Charlie and his good friend Billy Rankin had recently returned from a Caribbean vacation. One night at a tiki bar they heard the song and in support of musicians everywhere bought the cassette tape.

When Todd heard it he broke out his cassette player and made it the team’s unofficial theme song.

“That’s us,’’ Todd said at the time. “We’re coming out of the pound.’’

Backing up those words that night while batting leadoff, Todd homered. Scott Fisher followed with another home run and pitched a no-hitter as Toms River beat Georgetown, Del., 2-0. The dogs were let out and didn’t go back in until they shocked Japan for the Little League World Series title, with Todd leading the way, getting the final out on a strikeout. Then came the dog pile. Soon the kid shortstop/pitcher was standing alongside Derek Jeter at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees toasted the local team.

Finally, Todd, at the age of 31, is a Yankee after a Tuesday night trade with the White Sox. He came in as a pinch hitter

in a 6-1 loss to the Twins on Wednesday, struck out, and also was hit by a pitch near his right wrist in the ninth.

He will get his first start as a Yankee on Thursday against the Mariners at Safeco Field. It’s been one amazing journey that has taken him from Toms River to Williamsport to Rutgers to Cincinnati and Chicago.

The Yankees are hoping there is enough bark left in his big bat to help carry them to the playoffs. Speaking to Todd’s father Charlie on Wednesday, he said: “I hope Todd turns into a junkyard dog at Yankee Stadium next week.’’

Todd’s taste in music has advanced through the years — his walk-up music is now the Frank Sinatra classic “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Nineteen years after bursting onto the scene, though, Todd Frazier still walks onto the field with the same bravado as that 12-yearold kid who let the dogs out.