FORT MYERS, Fla. -- David Ortiz, who changed into a cutoff black Red Sox T-shirt for the cameras, held court Wednesday morning at the Red Sox spring training complex.

Here are the highlights:

* Before he even came on camera, he joked: “I’m not talking about fried chicken and beer, I had enough in the offseason.’’ Then he was peppered with questions about, you guessed it, fried chicken and beer.

“The deal with the clubhouse, people made it into a bigger deal than it was,’’ he said, later adding: “One thing I’m not worried about with this club is leadership.’’

Ortiz said he did speak to the pitchers at one point last season about the time they spent in the clubhouse, but repeated his line from last fall that he isn’t here to be a “babysitter.’’

“There’s a difference between being a leader and a babysitter,’’ he said.

“I’ve got to do what I’m supposed to do, first of all, and then I have the right to go talk to anyone else."

Later, he added: “If they apologized, that means it’s not going to happen again. If they apologized, that means turn the page.

“Turn the page, man. We don’t need no more negativity. We don’t need no more confrontation.’’

* Asked what mistakes he made last season, he paused, then said: “Not hit .340.’’

There were times, he acknowledged, that manager Terry Francona called him into his office to address a few issues, “but it wasn’t a big deal.’’

“I didn’t do anything that reflected on the other guys,’’ he said. “It wasn’t something that affected the team, it was some things I should not do because a lot of young guys were looking up to me, and he didn’t want them to get the wrong idea about different things.’’

* Ortiz said he has spoken with Francona several times since Francona departed as manager.

“He was just tired,’’ Ortiz said. “He needed a break. He was in a good mood. I guess they (Francona and the club) got to be on the same page about him.

“Tito was a close friend to me when he was manager. We got along pretty good. He called me the other day and congratulated me about my deal with the Red Sox. He said he didn’t see me wearing another uniform , and was happy I got an agreement. He wished me good luck.’’

* Ortiz said that there was a time he thought the Red Sox were not going to bring him back. “I’m not going to lie to you -- at one point I thought I was done here,’’ he said.

“The front office was caught up in a lot of things ... and at one point I guess I thought I wasn’t a priority here. That’s the way it looked to me.’’

He said his agents then explained to him that the team had been occupied with a new general manager and manager, among other things. The two-year offer the club made him (two years, $18 million) was “out of range,” he said, but said he was happy with the one-year, $14.75 million deal he got.

"I've been in the big leagues 15 years,’’ he said, “and I think I've earned every penny.''

He said he was surprised when he went to St. Petersburg, Fla., for his arbitration hearing and saw the Sox had sent “big dogs” to argue his case. His side, meanwhile, had some advice for him: “They me not to wear earrings in front of the judge. Did I kill somebody? They didn’t want me to have much bling-bling. I wear my earrings when I sleep.’’

The Sox and Ortiz never got to the hearing. They agreed on the $14.75 million deal (the exact middle point between what the Sox proposed and the player proposed) just hours before the hearing.

* He said the Sox should have won a postseason spot by 10 games instead of being eliminated on the last day of the season. “There were a lot of games that we let go,’’ he said. “I was very disappointed. But let’s move on. There’s nothing we can do about it now. Just pull yourself together and do some damage this year.’’

* He said he has not yet spoken at length with new manager Bobby Valentine.

“I think we’re going to be fine,’’ he said. “Things are going to be different, I’m pretty sure.’’

* When told that oddsmakers had listed the Red Sox as third in the AL East, he said: “I like to be the underdog.’’