World Series Champ Johnny Damon On His A-Game Drink And Why Athletes Succeed In The Business World

Two-time World Series champion Johnny Damon is trying to make an impact in the business world the way he did on the baseball diamond.

The 51-year-old is best known for being one of the key figures in ending the Boston Red Sox's 86-year World Series drought when he helped lead the franchise to a title during the 2004 season. Damon's two home runs — one of which was a grand slam — was a big reason why the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the ALCS. The end of the World Series drought would lead to the Red Sox winning three more World Series over the next 14 years.

The long-haired, free-spirited Damon also went on to star for the New York Yankees, where he helped lead them to their most recent World Series championship in 2009. While Damon is best known for his pro baseball career, he's trying to make a home through his beverage drink, A-Game.

The beverage is a hydration drink which was first released in 2022 and is available in many supermarket locations throughout the country, including Meijer and Piggly Wiggly.

" You always have to bring your A-game for every single thing you do and this drink — no artificial flavoring, coloring, no forever chemicals, we're super clean and we created this for a specific reason," Damon explains in a one-on-one interview. "Central Florida was very hot in 2012, and there were a couple of kids who died, and we want them to make sure people have the proper hydration that actually works for you."

Damon outlines and sells the key traits when it relates to his product line— hydration, clean ingredients and how it's a "healthy" product. The headquarters are located in Clermont, Florida where Damon resides.

"Down south here in Florida, we're in Winn Dixie, Piggly Wigglies around Alabama, and we're actually doing really good," Damon says. "We're competing with the big boys, and we've been up in the northeast at Shaw's and Stop and Shop for quite some time. "We have a lot of other stores coming into the mix right now and we couldn't be happier because we know how everyone's talking about make America healthy again. This is definitely a lot healthier than a lot of those drinks that they're pushing out there and we're very proud of it."

The former two-time All-Star outfielder mentions how there are several key names that are connected with A-Game, including football legend Bo Jackson and Ohio State Buckeyes Unanimous All-American safety Caleb Downs. The purpose of the big-name athletes are to get A-Game's name out there even further.

Damon says A-Game has deals with multiple college football players and mentions a goal of the company is to be the offical drink to these college programs at some point. He acknowledges the foothold that Gatorade, which is the official sports drink of just about every major North American sports league, including the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA. It of course is the main drink found on many college football team's sidelines.

He also mentions how A-Game recently sponsored The Hula Bowl, which took place this past weekend in Orlando. Hopefully one of these days we will be the official drinks to all these schools. We know the big dogs that are in the fight out there.

"It's going to tough," says Damon of overtaking Gatorade and other established drink products at college programs. "It's going to be tough to overtop them. "But we're bringing our A-Game and I know a lot of the athletic facilities are purchasing this because they're allowing their student athletes to try whatever they want and everybody's loving it."

Damon that says going into creating A-Game, if they could take 3% of business away from the big dogs, that's considered "doing very well." However, they'd love to take 10% of the market.

"We would love to go and get 10%," says Damon. "We know Gatorade's been around forever. We know that they have a lot of money. They have a lot of the biggest celebrities and biggest athletes. We have to compete against Goliath.

"If we can go out there and find some athletes that we really like and push the product in certain markets, we know we can do very well," Damon continues to say. "Especially with winning championships up in Boston and in New York, that definitely helps out a lot."

Damon name-drops several prominent figures in influencing his approach to business, including legendary golfer John Daly, actor Mark Wahlberg and biologist Gary Brecka. However, he speaks glowingly of the influence his former Yankees teammate, Alex Rodriguez, has had on him.

"I've been around one of the greatest in the business world, A-Rod," says Damon of Rodriguez, who he teamed up with for four seasons. "You would just hear about everything he was doing when we were teammates and he's still doing very well. He was buying apartment complexes back in the day and now he is buying major league franchises. I'm sure he is going to keep on doing his thing and keep on making more money,. He's done a great job."

One of the key traits that Damon mentions consistently about being a good businessman is being a "great teammate." He's constantly traveling and creating relationships with potential customers and potential investors. He stresses "marketing" as a thing that A-Game wants to excel at and brings up well-known brands such as Celsius and Prime as succeeding in that realm.

Damon calls 2025 a "big year" for A-Game and mentions wanting to "lock" in former U.S. Soccer Player of the Year Tyler Adams with the World Cup taking place in 2026.

It's no coincidence that many athletes have transitioned well in their post-playing careers, with Rodriguez previously being mentioned and others such as Derek Jeter, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal being well known for their investments and entrepreneurship.

A lot of athletes succeed in the business world because they know how to "understand" and socialize with people. That comes from experience of playing with teammates from different backgrounds and also working through differences to achieve a common objective.

"I think a lot of athletes succeed in the social world as well," says Damon. "You have to learn how to get along with your teammates, even though you might've come from different backgrounds, or you came from crosstown rivals and you just don't like each other for that reason. But once your teammates, you have to pull in the same direction. You have to understand people. Playing sports has given that to so many people."