NEW YORK — Rob Manfred knows he’ll get pounded now that he’s baseball commissioner — his name is printed in blue script on the sweet spot between the seams of every big league ball.

“Probably good if I get hit hard,” he said, smiling and laughing, during an interview with The Associated Press. “A little more offense. We don’t have to deal with that issue.”

Manfred’s desk on the 31st floor of baseball’s Park Avenue offices was tidy on Monday morning, the first business day after he succeeded Bud Selig and started a five-year term as commissioner. Having worked for MLB since 1998 as an executive vice president and then as chief operating officer, he didn’t have to move into a new office.

The issues are piled up, perhaps not physically, but the to-do list is lengthy: Oakland and Tampa Bay want new ballparks; negotiations are ongoing with players over pace of play and domestic violence; Baltimore and Washington are fighting in court over broadcast revenue; there is widespread agreement initiatives must be undertaken to develop young fans and players.

A pitch clock must be considered and decreased offense scrutinized along with increased defensive shifts.

Tighter balls? Shorter fences? A lower mound? Banning defensive shifts?

Perhaps they can be talked about in the future.

“I do think it’s important for the game to continue to modernize,” he said. “That modernization has to proceed at a pace that allows us to be very respectful of the traditions of the game and keeps us from making a hasty error, as they say.”

He opened his regime Sunday by releasing an open letter to fans, promising development in urban areas and increased emphasis on partnering with high school, college and amateur ball.

He left his home early on a snowy Monday and took the commuter train from Tarrytown to Grand Central Terminal, as he has most days since he was hired by MLB after 11 years as an outside counsel with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

Born Sept. 28, 1958, Manfred grew up in Rome, New York, and is thought to be the first commissioner to have played Little League Baseball. He started when he was seven and quit when he was 12 or 13 because it conflicted with tennis.

“It was a painful and not-particularly successful experience,” he said. “I played some shortstop, some second base.”

He attended his first big league game on Aug. 10, 1968, sitting in the lower deck between home plate and first base at Yankee Stadium for New York’s 3-2 loss to Minnesota. Mickey Mantle went deep twice in his last multihomer game.

“It was a big trip for us as a family,” Manfred said.

He wears conservative suits and has a gap-toothed smile.