Johnny Damon is officially a founder and CEO.
The former New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox All-Star outfielder launched his own sports drink brand, A-Game, with a focus on offering healthy hydration to young athletes.
Damon was inspired to pursue his own healthy sports drink after multiple young athletes died while training for sports in high heat in the summer of 2012, including one in his home state.
Two 16-year-olds, Isaiah Laurencin in Florida and Don’terio J. Searcy in Georgia, were among five high school students who collapsed after exerting themselves in high temperatures, prompting a lawsuit by their parents against their respective high schools, The New York Times previously reported.
Damon was playing his final MLB season in Cleveland at the time, and the stories resonated with him.
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Johnny Damon of the New York Yankees bats against the Florida Marlins June 25, 2006, at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
"A lot of kids were falling over," Damon told Fox Business in an exclusive interview. "It was a very hot summer here in central Florida, and we lost a few kids. I mean, they died from being dehydrated. You can blame it on the weather. You can blame it on the coaches telling them to go run. But if they don't put the right ingredients in their body, it's not going to work."
Damon became motivated to cultivate a product that could fuel and protect other young athletes with the hydration and nutrition needed to train in extreme heat. This past summer's historically high temperatures made Damon even more motivated to get such a product out.
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"This past summer we had was scorching as well, and it just seems like it's getting hotter and hotter, but we just wanted something that can actually help people," Damon said.
For Damon, the biggest factor in the creation of his own drink was eliminating any potentially harmful chemicals, including Allura Red AC, also known as red food dye. The chemical has been known to cause organ damage to mice in experiments and has even been associated with behavioral problems in children, such as ADHD, inattentiveness, hyperactivity and restlessness.
A-Game only uses natural sea salt for electrolytes and natural honey for sweeteners and includes eight essential vitamins.
Johnny Damon of the Tampa Bay Rays against the Chicago White Sox April 9, 2011, at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. (Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Damon says the ingredients in his drink are partially inspired by the nutrition philosophy of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who will serve as President-elect Trump's health secretary in the upcoming administration.
However, the biggest inspiration for Damon's philosophy was the training staff of the Tampa Bay Rays, the team he played for in 2011.
"The [Rays] trainers had to make sure the best players stayed on the field," Damon said, adding the team's payroll restrictions prevented it from fielding a high-paid bench like the large-market teams he played for previously.
"When we had a hot game on the road somewhere, they made sure we had our Gatorade packets, and they made sure we drank when we got to the clubhouse and also right before the games just so we are hydrated so we didn't come up with issues like cramps. The Tampa Bay Rays training room was the absolute best I've been around."
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Johnny Damon of the Boston Red Sox before Game 1 against Anaheim Angels at Edison International Field in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 5, 2004. (Robert Beck /Sports Illustrated/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Damon also said the food Tampa Bay offered its players was more substantial and heavier than the food his previous teams offered, which he says increased his strength and allowed him to hit the ball farther at an older age. They fed players pasta, steak and chicken, and he made sure to drink plenty of milk.
For Damon, the experience with the Rays' food options reinforced his belief not to cut any major food groups out of his diet, like many other pro athletes who completely cut out dairy and gluten. Damon believes in eating any food that is naturally sourced but strays away from anything artificial.
"Our origins come back from the cavemen, so you have to have meat. You have to have veggies. You have to have fruit. You have to have all that stuff," Damon said. "There's really great things in the world, and we can't be waisting money on fake products that aren't going to benefit humans."
Damon hopes his sports drink can help deliver that philosophy and benefits to young athletes looking to be at their best.
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