David Ortiz hit his 17th home run of the season on Sunday night, lifting the Boston Red Sox to victory over the Oakland Athletics in the 10th inning.

The 38-year-old is still going strong. He is coming off a World Series MVP performance for the ages despite an extended slump back in May 2009 that had many believing he was well past his prime.

After three strikeouts on May 14, 2009, Ortiz was hitting .208/.318/.300. He had endured a two-month slump after a significant wrist injury in 2008.

"I couldn't even watch TV, any sports channel at the time, because it was nothing but, 'He's done.' You're struggling and people are saying that you're done, it doesn't help," recalled Ortiz. "That's when your mind has to start processing that and next thing you know, 'I'm out.'"

Ortiz finds it hard to fathom the dialogue that surrounded him, especially those who wondered whether his performance dip was permanent.

"It wasn't like I was declining or anything like that. That's the first thing people put in their heads. I'm 38 and I'm still hitting 97 mph fastballs. They said my bat speed was shutting down back then," he said. "I was, what, I was 33 years old. How many 33-year-olds you see losing bat speed? I haven't seen that many. Especially a guy coming off an injury."