Pawtucket’s Boys of Summer on “Que Onda con Donna”

Donna M. Nesselbush is a founding partner at Marasco & Nesselbush Law, a Rhode Island State Senator and Municipal Court Judge for the City of Pawtucket. She hosts a Spanish language Saturday morning radio show on Latina 100.3fm and now hosts the all new “¿Que Onda? con Donna” TV show.

The Osos Polares are “off and running!” The “Osos Polares” name is the “alter-Latino-ego” of my beloved Pawtucket Red Sox. I love baseball. Who doesn’t love baseball? I was going to say “What American doesn’t love baseball,” but baseball years ago spread into Latin America (and beyond), and Latin America has embraced it like crazy!! Many times when I have visited the Dominican Republic, we have escaped the heat of the beach for a relatively cooler evening under the lights watching a Dominican baseball game!! Dominicans seem to love baseball as much as Americans!

Well, all of that being said, I definitely love my PawSox. I consider the PawSox one of the jewels of my Senatorial District. In business since 1973 when Ben Mondor took over, the PawSox have a storied past, and they will have a storied future, especially when they get their new stadium (fingers crossed!). As the Senator in whose District McCoy Stadium is AND the new stadium, the BallPark at Slater Mill, will be, I am a HUGE proponent of the new stadium. Although we Senators must be very careful and very protective of Rhode Island taxpayers, with that in mind, I still think our stadium deal is excellent for Rhode Island taxpayers, excellent for Pawtucket and excellent for the PawSox. Much has been said about the financing of the stadium deal, but stay tuned to Que Onda Con Donna? where I will interview not only the PawSox brass, but also some key Latino players to get their behind the scenes take on baseball, their lives and their lives in Pawtucket.

We’ll show scenes from the Osos Polares Opening Day at McCoy on Tuesday, April 12, 2018. I had the huge honor of throwing out a first pitch, which embarrassingly landed in the dirt to the right of the catcher! Damn, and I played all that softball AND hardball catch with my brothers throughout my childhood, only to be 55 and throw the ball in the dirt. Like I said. Damn! Hopefully I will get another chance to redeem myself.

Despite my dirt ball pitch, I had a great time talking with PawSox President, Larry Lucchino and Mike Gwynn, Mike Tamburro. They really are such nice guys. I always say, when I am in their presence, I always feel like I am in the presence of greatness. They really run a great business and are true professionals. Larry told me that 75% of baseball players these days are Latinos! Wow. I had no idea the percentage of Latino players was that high. And Mike explained to me the meaning of the term “farm team.” The PawSox and other triple AAA baseball teams are often referred to as the “farm team” of their parent team, i.e., the Pawtucket Red Sox, or the PawSox, are the farm team for their parent team the Boston Red Sox, and the Buffalo Bisons are the farm team for their parent team, the Toronto Blue Jays.

I asked Mike Tamburro about this term, the “farm team.” Mike said that many of the teams and fields used to be out in the Midwest with stadiums literally built on farm land! It is on these Triple AAA teams that players with potential can develop their potential and where injured “big-leaguers” can rehabilitate and get back to tip top shape.

But enough about baseball, let’s see who these Latino players really are. Where are they from? How did they grow up? How did they learn about baseball, and even more importantly…what keeps them up at night? What cars do they drive, and by all means…are they single?? Inquiring minds want to know so stay tuned for our upcoming…Que Onda Con Donna.

“¿Que Onda? con Donna” can be seen on YurView – Cox Channels 4 and 1004 – Tuesdays at 7:30pm, Wednesdays at 8:30pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm.

Check out the full episode here: