FORT MYERS, Fla. — In a single season he made himself New England sports public enemy No. 1. He vaulted past the ghosts of Grady Little, Carl Everett, Jose Canseco, and Carl Crawford and took a seat alongside despised Boston opponents like Matt Cooke, Alex Rodriguez, and Roger Goodell.

The Red Sox finished in last place for a second straight season in 2015 and Hanley Ramirez got all the blame. Folks didn’t say much about fellow flops Pablo Sandoval, Rick Porcello, and Joe Kelly. Nobody pointed fingers at stubborn owners, an underachieving manager, or a general manager who seemed incapable of trading precious prospects.

It was all Hanley bashing, all the time. If the Green Line didn’t run on time, it must have been Hanley’s fault.

Ramirez deserved a lot of it. He came to camp too heavy and failed to apply himself to his new position in left field. On the bases, in the outfield, and at the plate, he often looked like a guy who did not care. Then he hurt his shoulder. He played only 28 games after the All-Star break, hitting .183. He missed the final 35 games of the season — which happens to be the same time the Sox finally played respectable baseball.

Dave Dombrowski worked hard to trade Ramirez over the winter. The Sox were willing to eat a considerable portion of Hanley’s remaining contract ($68 million), but there were no takers. And so Hanley is back at JetBlue Park and the Sox plan to try him at first base this season.

For the record, I am jumping on the Hanley bus for 2016. Why not? Things can’t get any worse. Ramirez is only 32 years old and he hit 10 homers in April last year. The Sox still owe him a pile of money and Hanley can slide into the DH role next year.

First base? How bad can it be? Ramirez was athletic enough to play shortstop in the majors for nine years. Now we’re supposed to believe he’s not nimble enough to take throws from Xander Bogaerts?

Ramirez arrived at Sox camp a full week ahead of schedule this year, then got ripped because he did not have his own first baseman’s mitt. He was using a glove left behind by Mike Napoli. Again, Ramirez appeared to be a guy who does not care.

I asked him about all of this while he stood in front of his locker after Friday’s workout at JetBlue Park.

“They gave me a glove [Napoli’s] at the end of last year so I took that one home,’’ he said. “Wilson delivered a new glove to my home, but I got here early so that’s why I don’t have it here. Next week you’re going to see some color in my glove. They’ll put some red in it so it will match the uniform.’’

Flossy-fielding Adrian Gonzalez was Ramirez’s first baseman during the end of Hanley’s time with the Dodgers. I submitted to Hanley that he’ll never be a first baseman on a par with Gonzo.

“Why not?’’ Ramirez asked. “You never know. Write it down and remember that . . . I told Bogey to just throw the ball right here [points to chest] and I got you. If you think you’re going to throw it high, just throw it in the ground. I’m waiting for the smaller guy on the team [Dustin Pedroia, we assume] to tell him the same thing. They don’t have to think about a thing, just throw the ball.’’

Asked why he stopped hitting last season, Ramirez cited an episode when he ran into the left-field corner at Fenway May 4.

“I hit into a wall. I’m not supposed to say this, but I [expletive] my shoulder and when your shoulder doesn’t feel the same, your swing is going to change. Now my shoulder is fine.’’

His weight? According to Ramirez, he weighed 250 last season but is down to 235.

What about the avalanche of criticism he received in his first year back in Boston?

“I can’t control that,’’ he said. “You know how I can control that? Just producing on the field. It doesn’t bother me. I knew that’s how it was going to be when I was heading to Boston. I still love the fans, I love this team. I grew up watching this team from the Dominican and it was an honor for me to sign with the Red Sox and everything is going to be fine. We’ve just got to win.

“I don’t like to talk about negative stuff. The people around me, they don’t talk about negative stuff. A lot of times I hear stuff. Like when I went home. They said I left the team early. Everybody here knows I didn’t want to leave, but I had a plan and they wanted me to leave to rehab my shoulder.’’

OK, Hanley. But why do you think folks believe you don’t care?

“Honestly, I don’t know, but my teammates know how much I’m working here and how I get ready for the game every day,’’ he said. “You don’t want people to have that impression of you, but everything comes from the media. What the media say, people going to believe. People can’t see what goes on in here, but we just have to prove people wrong by doing it on the field and winning.’’

Why does everyone blame you?

“It’s unbelievable,’’ he said. “That makes me more competitive every day. Showing people they are wrong. I am an honest person. What we do here stays in the clubhouse. You never hear anything about this clubhouse. We stick together to the end.’’

If you could do last year over again, would you do anything different?

“Yeah, I wouldn’t run into the wall,’’ he said. “I wouldn’t play left field again. I just wanted to win. That’s why I went to the outfield. They wanted me to go to the outfield and to leave Bogey at short. They had an idea that we were going to have a better team with me in the outfield. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Now I’m back in the infield and happy to be back.’’

Do you think you’ve been treated unfairly by media and fans?

“A little bit, but like I said, I can’t control that,’’ Ramirez said. “Everybody has their own opinion, but the good thing is that I come in here every day ready to play. Sometimes things are now going to go the right way. But if you hustle everything is going to be fine at the end of the year.’’

Hop aboard the Hanley bus if you like. There’s plenty of room.

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Shaughnessy