THE NEW YANKEE STADIUM IS HOMER HAPPY!

Larry Bowa knew quickly that brand-new Citizens Bank Ballpark was a slugger’s paradise. “We could tell the first time we took batting practice there,” recalled Bowa, the Phillies’ manager when the park opened in 2004.

Balls flew out of the yard at an alarming rate and opponents, especially pitchers, ripped the stadium as homer-happy. To the Yankees, that all probably sounds familiar because the new Yankee Stadium is now the easiest place in baseball to hit a home run.

The Phillies and their park offer an interesting test case, if the Yankees are pondering changes to the $1.5 billion Stadium in the offseason to try to reduce home runs. CBP’s left-field fence was raised and moved back after the 2005 season, though it has not had much impact on homers.

No one in the Yankee organization will say the Bombers are considering changes — a team spokesman refused comment because the scenario was hypothetical — though additional wind studies are being performed. The firm that designed the Stadium — Populous (formerly HOK) — would not talk about potential options because the Yankees told them to direct media inquiries to the team.

“It’s not something I’m even thinking about,” said Yankee GM Brian Cashman when asked of the possibility of changes. “Most of the home runs are launched, so I don’t know. We can’t move the subway line.”

The ball, though, is “clearly flying here more than it used to, but I can’t tell you why,” Cashman said.

The Yankees have hit 45 home runs at home and allowed 42 — the 87 home runs at the Stadium are the most for a new venue in its first 23 games in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. With an average of 3.78 homers per game, the new Stadium is on pace to produce 306 home runs this season. That would top the major league record of 303 homers in a stadium in a single season, set at the pre-humidor Coors Field in 1999. Last year, 160 homers were hit at the old Stadium, 1.98 per game.

Cashman and Bowa both said they thought the ball is livelier this year, something that was often a steroid-era explanation for homers. “I think we have a juiced-ball issue that can randomly happen year-to-year,” Cashman said.

“I think the ball is wound tighter,” added Bowa. “I don’t have documentation to verify it. But the game is cleaner now — the steroids got guys more distance. Fans love home runs and now maybe you can keep homers in the game this way.”

Baseball’s home run rates are up — to 2.04 per game, slightly higher than they were at this point the last two seasons. Minus the Yankee homers, the rate is 1.99. And Major League Baseball says the Rawlings-supplied baseballs are the same and undergo the same quality control processes they always have.