Anna Benson to the O's

[Marty and Joe]

Well...OK...it was Kris...but, I just thought I'd try the 'teaser' headline like the news stations do...

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/a...2005&fext=.jsp

Benson for Julio and Maine.

[Dom Heffner]

One of my best friends was ghost writing Anna's autobiography.

From what I heard, a very, very stupid woman.

Hot, but stupid.

[RFS62]

Originally Posted by Dom Heffner

One of my best friends was ghost writing Anna's autobiography.

Does it come with crayons?

From what I heard, a very, very stupid woman.

Hot, but stupid.

Wow, who would have ever suspected that?

[creek14]

I saw Anna host some show about wives of celebrities (or quasi-celebrities in her case). She could barely put three words together, except when talking about herself.

Just another example of pretty girls not needing a personality, sense of humor, or brains.

Guess I should thank my parents for my ugly genes. :

[savafan]

Somewhere, right now, the rest of the Orioles players are trying to figure out how to get Kris to cheat on Anna.

[WVRed]

And Hurricane Anna has hit Baltimore.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/sp.../22benson.html

Wearing a black jersey of her new favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, Anna Benson entered a cramped conference room of a Manhattan public-relations firm last night, her makeup still fresh from an earlier photo shoot for the April issue of FHM magazine.

She slapped her husband, Kris, on the thigh as they sat down, then listened as he talked about being traded to Baltimore.

Then it was Anna's turn to respond, and true to her reputation, she did not go quietly.

The trade brought pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine to the Mets, and Anna used the hastily arranged news conference to sound off on all things personal, baseball and Mets. It was Anna Benson being Anna Benson.

"I think everyone blows me out of proportion," she said.

She is a rarity among today's professional men's athletes: the wife who has more of a public persona than her husband. Her time in New York was, in some ways, more remarkable than that of her husband.

Benson was moderately successful in his 18 months as a Met, but Anna stole the spotlight, sharing intimate details of their sex life, blasting the anti-establishment filmmaker Michael Moore and, more recently, criticizing the Mets for trying to trade her husband.

Hours before the news conference, Kris Benson, in a conference call, said that he was looking forward to working with the Orioles' pitching coach, Leo Mazzone, and to pitching in Camden Yards, the only major league stadium he said he had never visited.

Anna said in a statement released after the trade that she and Benson looked forward to "christening the parking lot" at the stadium, referring to her desire to have sex at every major league park.

Whether her brashness contributed to the Mets' persistence in trying to trade Benson is unclear. Mets officials have publicly denied it, and the deal has been months in the making, especially on the Orioles' part. Only the terms needed tweaking.

The Bensons said they hoped and believed that Anna's outsized personality had not factored into the Mets' decision, but their responses yesterday indicated that they were at least a little suspicious. Benson said he did not think the trade was "cut and dry." Anna was a little more straightforward.

"If they traded Kris because of what I've done, then that's a dirty, nasty, rotten trick," she said, adding that he would have signed elsewhere last winter if they had known he would be traded this quickly after signing a three-year contract.

As she spoke last night, enunciating clearly and forcefully, a smile did not leave her face, even as she addressed some weightier subjects.

She has criticized the Mets for acquiring Carlos Delgado, who has not stood for the playing of "God Bless America" during games because of his opposition to American foreign policy. Clarifying those remarks last night, she said that she wondered why the Mets were willing to acquire Delgado but then were leery when she considered modeling for Playboy.

"Be liberal or not, make a choice," Anna said, adding that her posing for Playboy was a dead issue.

In Baltimore, it is unlikely that Anna Benson's outrageousness will cause as much of a stir as it did in New York. She will continue to spout shocking comments, wear revealing outfits - like the low-cut dress she chose for the Mets' annual holiday party for children - and try to be, according to her, "the sexiest woman in professional sports."

Asked whether the move would damage her career as a model and as an all-around show-business personality, Anna deferred to her husband.

"This is never about me," she said. "This is about him."

[Dom Heffner]

Wow, who would have ever suspected that?

My friend would probably kill me for disclosing this, but she's also just a bit**.

His firm had set up a cover shot with Maxim and she whined and cried about having to pay for her airfare, the limo, etc.

It never occurred to her that the exposure she would receive from the cover was worth 50 airplane trips and expenses.

She was just rude to my friend, which, you know, is not a wise thing to do to the person writing your life story.

My friend told me about all of this before I had ever even heard of her.

[Johnny Footstool]

Dom, how did your friend manage to draw the short straw and get stuck with Anna Benson's autobiography? Were the Donnie Most and Elizabeth Berkley autobiographies already assigned to other writers?

[Dom Heffner]

Dom, how did your friend manage to draw the short straw and get stuck with Anna Benson's autobiography? Were the Donnie Most and Elizabeth Berkley autobiographies already assigned to other writers?

Believe it or not, he worked for a PR firm that was started by the son of a 70s celeb. They represented Marshall Faulk and some other people.

I'm guessing he drew the straw because he was in charge of anything and everything to do with the written word for the firm.

One day my friend calls me from Atlanta and tells me he's there spending time with someone working on a biography. He told me who it was, but it didn't register until I asked him about a few months ago when I was visiting him in Los Angeles.

There was never any reason to doubt his story, but I knew it was true when I saw a picture of Mr. Benson and the whole firm sitting on the 70 celeb's son's desk.

There was also a HUGE autographed poster of Faulk in the office. It was very cool.

[RFS62]

Wasn't Anna a stripper when Benson met her?

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by RFS62

Wasn't Anna a stripper when Benson met her?

She was a stripper but I don't know if she was one when she met Benson. Probably but I don't know.

All I can say about that book is it better have pictures in it if they want it to sell.

[Dom Heffner]

All I can say about that book is it better have pictures in it if they want it to sell.

I don't even know if there is going to be one- at least by my friend. She absolutely hated it- which he took as a compliment- but he did have a few chapters left to go. He was a little behind on it, and she had already paid him, so I can see her concern, but this guy is an incredibly talented writer and sometimes these things take longer than expected, especially if you want it to be any good. Though she hated it, so it probably didn't matter when he finished it.

I'll write him tonight and see whatever came of it.

[letsgojunior]

"If he was traded because of any potential talks with . . . Playboy or anything like this, that's a dirty, nasty, rotten trick — and I think that's really freedom-of-speech infringement," she charged.

I'd love to hear Anna's thoughts on the First Amendment.

[KronoRed]

I think my head would explode to hear it

[Johnny Footstool]

All I can say about that book is it better have pictures in it if they want it to sell.

I think that's a given. Anna would rather look at pictures of herself than read.