FORT MYERS, Fla. – Braves outfielder Jonny Gomes was greeted with loud applause each time he came to bat Tuesday at JetBlue Park from Red Sox fans who remember him fondly for his contributions to Boston’s 2013 World Series championship team.

The veteran had 13 home runs and a .344 OBP in 366 plate appearances during the regular season and another big home run against the Cardinals in the World Series. But his lasting legacy with Red Sox faithful and all of Boston will likely be a galvanizing role he played when the city went through the trauma of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Gomes and then-Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, along with a Red Sox clubhouse worker, were responsible for getting the first “Boston Strong” T-shirts made after the bombing. Gomes was one of the Red Sox players who placed the World Series trophy at the Boston Marathon finish line, close to where two bombs exploded that killed three people and injured more than 250 others.

Gomes only played for the Red Sox for 1 ½ seasons before being traded to Oakland in 2014, but he became one of the big leaders on the 2013 championship team, along with longtime Red Sox stars David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia and former Braves catcher David Ross.

In his first few weeks with the Braves, Gomes had three singles, one walk and eight strikeouts in 22 spring-training at-bats before Tuesday. Manager Fredi Gonzalez isn’t concerned about the left fielder, who’ll likely play against all left-handers and some right-handers this season. Already he has seen signs of Gomes’ off-field influence.

“He’s been great,” Gonzalez said. “I think his presence in the locker room has been very noticeable, and the energy that he brings. He’s one of those guys, you just want him to get at-bats (in spring training). He’s hit the ball hard a few times. Just let him get at-bats, he’ll be fine.”

Gomes’ charisma and aggressiveness have played well with each of his past four teams – Cincinnati, Oakland, Boston and Oakland again, all of which advanced to the postseason with him playing a significant role. But if he hadn’t backed it up with his performance and work habits, it likely would’ve been viewed as so much bluster and he might’ve been tuned out. It’s been quite the opposite — his former managers and teammates laud him.

“A student of the game, first and foremost,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said. “He knows himself as a player and knows his role. And [not only was he] a valuable member of the team, he was a leader even though he wasn’t an everyday player. He made others around him believe in themselves even more so. He always had the flair to say the right thing at the right time.”

Gomes wasted no time letting folks know what he was about after joining the Braves. After hitting just .234 with a .327 on-base percentage and career-low six home runs in 321 plate appearances last season with Boston and Oakland, he signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Braves that includes a $3 million option for 2016 that vests with 325 plate appearances this season.

If anyone thought Gomes might keep a low profile until establishing himself with the Braves, he quickly quashed that thought right after he reported to spring training. Surrounded by reporters even before he’d changed into a Braves uniform for the first time, Gomes had informal news conference at his locker and said, among other things: “I’m here to win, and I’m here to win it all. That’s where I’m at.”

And: “You’ve got to create an identity (as a team), you’ve got to create an attitude, and not all 30 teams are going to do that. But we have some winning pedigree, some winning players in here.”

And, he added, “I don’t think I could look at Bobby Cox walking around and be like, ‘Hey, Bobby, we’re trying to go .500, what do you think about that?’ It’s not going to work.”

He was a breath of fresh air in the minds of many Braves, who hadn’t heard such a positive message delivered quite so assertively or with as much swagger by a Brave in a couple of years or more.

“Gomes interview when he got here was spot-on,” Braves rookie outfielder Todd Cunningham said. “I enjoyed reading (those quotes about) just kind of breeding your own atmosphere of winning. It’s a nice change of pace. Not that we didn’t have a good team before, but a different feel, a different way to go about it. Just say that up front, and we’ll see what happens.”