FORT MYERS, Fla. -- It doesn't take long for everyone to know when David Ortiz is around.
Even two years removed from his active career, Ortiz commands attention. His infectious laugh can be heard across the Fenway South Complex. Fans walking by are struck by his presence, calling out greetings as they pass him.
Ortiz arrived Friday and spoke with reporters on an array of topics.
Among them:
- This year's Red Sox team: "To be honest with you, this ballclub looks so good, man. From head to toe. You walk into that clubhouse and you can feel that good vibe. I have an even better feeling this year than the feeling I had last year and I told you guys how good I felt about the ballclub last year. You can see, on the players' faces, the experience they went through in the playoffs, what they learned and how confident you feel about the result. As a player, I can tell you that plays a big role the following season. There are guys who, from the end of the season last year to today, how much better they got. That's a plus.''
- Jackie Bradley Jr.: "You can see his body language. You can see how confident he is this season, how he can take things to that next level, what we all expect. Because the game is a learning process.''
- The difficulty of repeating as champions: "Repeating is hard, but I also think it depends on who comes on board and how tight you keep your ballclub. A lot of teams have a tendency to make moves and I also notice that this past season, injuries play big roles for teams. Everybody's healthy here, thank God, good to go. Everybody's in unbelievable shape. That's not an issue here, so why not? And the confidence level is even better than last year.
- The hitters constantly talking about hitting: "I love how they feed each other information on how to get better. I was making fun of them because while they were stretching (Saturday) morning, I was going to go (talk) with them and I took a couple of steps and thought, 'Let me just listen to what they're talking about.' They talked about nothing but hitting. They talked about nothing but hitting. I remember (when I played), while we were stretching, you'd mess around and talk trash and this and that. But these guys are locked in. I was standing there listening to the conversation for about half an hour. I didn't say anything. I was just listening to them talk about mechanics, hands, approach. ...What that tells you is these guys are trying not to miss a beat. They're in the first week (of games) in spring training and look at what the conversation is.
- J.D. Martinez: "I've got to give it to J.D. J.D is like the center, the mother hen. He's the one everyone is getting fed from because he's a psychopath. Man, this dude is at another level — being good and wanting to be better. That's one thing I enjoy when I'm around here -- the way he handles himself and the way he helps the rest of the squad. That's what makes a difference. We missed a J.D. Martinez. And then you have him in 2018 and you see what happened.
- The team's competitiveness: "These guys are acting like they finished in last place last year. I love that because it shows they're still hungry, they want more and they want to get better and better. I'm happy with what I see there.''
- The challenges of defending the World Series: "When you're playing time period passes, it's nothing but happiness (see your team win) because you know how hard it is to put together a World Series-winning team together. It's hard. It's hard. You look at the Los Angeles Dodgers and how much money they spend and how they chase good players, how they have one of the best pitchers in the game, being in the World Series back-to-back years, and not winning? That tells you hard it is to win a World Series.''
- Mookie Betts: "I was telling him, 'You know how hard it is to do what you did last year? You stayed hot for seven months.' I've never seen able do that (stuff). I don't remember being in a slump last year. I don't consider it a slump going 0-for-10 when you're putting good swings on the ball. That's not a slump in my book. He stayed at .340 all year long last year. That's hard to do. You know Mookie -- he don't want to be good; he wants to be perfect. I don't know if he learned a lot from me, but I learned a lot from him. His mentality is a Pedroia-type kind of guy. 'I'm going to give you everything I have.'
- Thoughts on coming out of retirement: "Hell to the no. Nooooo. I'd have to be born-again to do that. I'm carrying so much pain in my body. Mookie asked me when they were hitting, 'Hey, if you take 10 swings, you think you could hit a few balls out?' I'm like, 'I might, but I'm going to be in the training room for about two days and a half.''