Robertson finds way as visitor

David Robertson did what he knew, taking the D train from midtown Manhattan to 161st Street in The Bronx. After exiting the station, routine kicked in as he absorbed the surroundings of a walk he had made hundreds of times before entering Yankee Stadium.

“I came through the normal gate, and then I walked past the home clubhouse and a girl was opening the door to let me in, and I said, ‘No, no, no, I don’t play here anymore,’ ” the White Sox closer said with a smile. “I didn’t know how to come in on [the visitors’ side]. ... So, I took the long walk down.”

After spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Yankees, Robertson returned to The Bronx on Thursday for the first time since signing a fouryear, $46 million contract with the White Sox last offseason, an agreement which came after the Yankees opted against offering the reliever a multiyear deal.

Robertson did not appear in the Yankees’ 32 win and he still has not made an appearance against the Yankees, leaving the 30yearold eager and anxious at the potential opportunity.

“Yankee Stadium was my home for a long time,” Robertson said before the game. “It’s gonna be different stepping on the field, going out there and being against the guys on the other side. It’s definitely strange.”

Robertson, who has 31 saves this season after accumulating 39 saves as Mariano Rivera’s successor last year, said the adjustment to a new team and a new city has been everything he could have hoped and he harbors no animosity towards the Yankees for making no genuine effort to retain him.

And as strange as it may be for him to be staring at pinstripes and to be pitching in the bottom of the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium, Robertson has no problem playing a potential spoiler role to the Yankees’ postseason plans.

“In between the lines, I’ve got a job,” said Robertson, who has kept in touch with a few former teammates, like Brett Gardner. “We can be friends as much as we want later, but on the field, I’ve gotta get them out and do my job. I’m not here to lose games. I’m going to do what I’m supposed to do and get guys out. That’s the way it’s gonna be.”