Willie Randolph was so anxious Thursday night, he couldn’t sleep. Each hour would come and each hour he’d wake, too excited for rest uninterrupted.

‘Twas the night before his first day and first team address as a big-league manager.

“Christmas was like [Thursday] night,” Randolph said yesterday. “I woke up ever hour on the hour, just looking at the clock. It’s weird. I actually woke up at 1, 2, 3, 4. I got up at 6 and I was ready to go.”

That he was. Randolph was introduced as Mets manager Nov. 4, but it was yesterday when he really took over the job. The new skipper threw on his blue and black No. 12 jersey, spoke to his pitchers and catchers at a 9 a.m. meeting, and conducted the first day of workouts.

In other words, he had the kind of day he’s been waiting for his whole baseball life.

“It was proud, a little emotional,” the 50-year-old said. “Tried to compose myself a little bit. But when you walk in front of your team for the first time, it kind of hits you.”

Randolph said it was “a good day,” and he began by delivering his first address as Mets skipper. Randolph did not want to divulge specifics about what he said, revealing only that he “just spoke from the heart.”

Braden Looper estimated the manager spoke for approximately 10 minutes. The main point Looper took out of the address?

“We’re going to win,” Looper said. “We’re going to start this thing, we’re going to do it right and we’re going to win.”

Mike Piazza said, “He’s all business. He wants to get out there and work and build a winning attitude.”

Piazza said Randolph knows it’s “not an overnight process.” The truth is, perhaps nobody should be expecting parades anytime soon. But Randolph didn’t waste much time yesterday instilling his ideas and beliefs in his players. He’s already put one Yankee rule in place, limiting facial hair to mustaches, no beards or goatees. That’ll affect Piazza, whose beard will have to go.

“It actually makes it easier for me. I’m so superstitious. I don’t have to worry about it,” Piazza said, adding he wasn’t sure if he’d hang onto the mustache. “I don’t want to look like 1970’s Burt Reynolds.”

Randolph is concerned about appearances, and to that end, he perhaps set an example by hustling to different fields between drills. The manager said he’s always done that. No surprise he’s counting on his players to do the same.

“You don’t want to see guys walking and lagging around. It just doesn’t look good,” Randolph said. “So there’s a certain standard that I think I bring to the table and it’s what I’ve learned and known over the years, and I expect my players to adhere to that standard.”

Randolph, who said he plans to have the team improve its conditioning, talked about how special it was to wear the Mets uniform again he last wore the jersey in 1992 in his final season as a player and to now be running his own camp.

Said the skipper, who interviewed for multiple managerial jobs over the years, “It’s been a long ride, and now I get the chance to do my thing.”

Yesterday was Day 1.