Jason Dewey opened for Tiesto, signed a record deal and is about to become an actor, but misses baseball every day

An injury during Spring Training of 09' was when his baseball career in the states was over.
"And this is where the story begins ... "
Jason Dewey was back in Tampa and he couldn't manage to get a job at Best Buy. He was used to holding on to the mentality of being just one month away from the big leagues to "nada." He didn't have any experience. Baseball was his experience.
Dewey spent a decade playing -- at every level from independent ball to 110 plate appearances with the Triple-A Colorado Sky Sox. He's been a mudcat, a roughrider, a scorpion -- even a storm. So that dream was over ...

"My buddy messages me on Facebook and says 'Dude, you gotta come to Australia.'" With a few expletives, Dewey had no idea why he would go to Australia of all places -- but they wanted him to play. "Just to DH," he said. Dewey's voice heightened as he mentioned how excited he was to finally talk about his journey. 
He played for a local team in Australia, the Giants. He and the buddy who convinced him to relocate, Steve Fish, were former teammates in the Angels organization for a few years -- his career finished earlier than Dewey's. Fish was now coaching and playing. And by Australia's baseball rules you were allowed two imports to play.

"I'm there two months, and we win the flag -- we won the championship," Dewey explained casually. "Great times."
While Dewey was winning a championship in his new home, there was a gentleman who had been paying attention to him. He was from Baseball Western Australia, which is a non-profit organization that works in parks and recreation with local kids. "Well, 18 months later, I relocated 30 families while talent-identifying kids." These kids were so far out in the bush, "it was insane," he added. And that was basically his job -- a job that he was almost too good at. He was given a Visa to work, but the BWA ran out of money to keep him employed.
"Screw that," he said. "I'm going to get another job." And he had an idea. He would bring baseball to a high in Perth, Aus. Yep -- Dewey met with the principal at Darling Range High School and said: "You are getting baseball." Just like that. He told the principal he was getting a field and he was getting a batting cage.

"I'll be damned if he did it." And that's part of how Dewey got to stay. 
The interesting part of having a work Visa in Australia was if there was a restaurant or bar that was associated with the BWA, he would be allowed to work there until the nine months passed and his Visa was officially approved. He was suggested to be a bartender -- and in true Dewey-fashion, he agreed with his "Yeah, I can do that" attitude.
He arrived at Lakers Tavern -- a place he said he would never forget. He met with the manager, Nick Brown. Brown asked of Dewey's experience as the bar on a Friday night began to become packed. Dewey was honest with the fact that he didn't have a resume filled with jobs pouring adult beverages, but he stopped mid-conversation when he heard the DJ playing.
"[The DJ] sounded like he was banging on a drum at a gong show -- it was just God-awful," said Dewey. "And then I said 'Well, I know I can do better than that guy.'" 
The manager started him that next week, but he wasn't pouring beers, he was DJing -- and that's what he did for the next four years.

He moved on from Lakers Tavern to a bigger club: Carnegies. He performed there and while the Perth location was undergoing renovation, he went to Hong Kong to the Carnegies location there and worked. While he was there, he was approached and asked to work a huge party later -- the original DJ had fallen ill. "Sure," Dewey said. At the Hong Kong location was where he was invited to the eighth floor by a man who resembled a cage fighter.
Dewey described himself as "a bigger dude," but there was no way in hell he would go to the eighth floor.
"I was scared," he said.
The club manager ran up to him saying he needed to go to the eighth floor. And so, with much trepidation, he went. He got to the eighth floor. 
"I walk in, Tiesto is there."
Tiesto would be performing a couple days later, but he needed an opener. Introducing: DJ Jason Dewey. "I couldn't even speak," he said when reliving the moment.

And so there he went. DJ Jason Dewey did a series of shows with the famous DJ Tiesto. They toured in and around Asia and performed to crowds of 50,000. But he wanted more.

"I got to a point where as cool as it is, when you're opening, you're still playing at 4 or 5 o'clock and no one's really there and I think I'm pretty good. So I broke off from them and signed a record deal with SONY," Dewey said.
He started releasing some music and getting projects rolling and then he was touring once again. The travel from Tampa to Asia was awful he said. So he made a home base out of Manila in the Philippines. He would stay there and then go to Amsterdam to produce. "And I would just go an do my shows -- that was the plan."

One night, a well-known boxer from the Philippines, Nonito Donaire, was celebrating a recent "Athlete of the Decade" award and after his set, Dewey went over to have drinks with his now good friend. A close friend of Donaire's mentioned how much she loved Dewey's look. 
"There's this movie that's coming up ... " she began to explain.
Dewey almost laughed. But the laughter didn't last long. The famous actress got him on two shows. And when it was audition time for the movie that was coming up, he nailed the auditions. They kept calling him back and he kept reading.
"And I'll be damned, I got it," he said.
Dewey will play a major role in a movie that could be the highest-grossing film in Filipino history. But there isn't a day that goes by that he doesn't think about baseball.
"I miss it every breathing second of my life," he said. "Going to war with those guys -- and there's nothing like hitting a hanging curveball." But that doesn't mean Dewey jumps at the opportunity to buy a ticket to sit in the stands.
"I don't think I'll ever go to a Major League game again," he said. He misses the bond with the team and the clubhouse feel, but he just can't do it.
"The only reason why I wanted to DJ is because I wanted to be under pressure -- in baseball, there's pressure, as a catcher, there's pressure, and when you lose that, you don't feel like you have any personal value. But with music, I have that."

On a nightly basis, DJ Jason Dewey says he is challenged by the people and his surroundings. The feel of those partying and drinking gets him into that safe space. And while he's acting, he is challenged also -- but had a great amount of fear initially. 
But that's what he does -- he approaches fear, he embraces it, then he says "this is what I'm going to do," and he'll be damned if he does it. 

Coach Dewey with the Dubai National Softball team
Dewey is a full-time DJ at Cove in Manila. His movie comes out soon, and he has a major interest in coaching Olympic softball (he can throw underhand).
"And so, we will see," he said.
We certainly will.