Talkin' Baseball with Anna Benson

Full disclosure here…I haven’t watched every minute of every episode of “Baseball Wives”.

I know.  I know.  But I’ve paid enough attention enough to figure out what’s going on and know that Anna Benson is the only thing worth paying attention to.

That’s gotta mean something, right?

And even if you've missed the show, you know Anna, don’t ya?  She’s the one that famously told Howard Stern that if her husband, then-Mets pitcher Kris Benson cheated on her…she would "do everybody on his whole team."

Well, I had a chance recently to catch up with the with the potty mouthed, gun toting, “cleat chaser” hating baseball wife.  Enjoy!

HOVG:  First off, thank you for being you. And thank you for driving so much traffic to my little slice of the interwebs last month. I’ll get to why traffic was so heavy in a bit, but first, I’ve gotta know…how did “Baseball Wives’ come about? Was this an idea that you had pitched to VH1 or did they come and seek you out?

ANNA:  Actually, I have always thought that a show surrounding the lives of baseball wives was a great idea, so it was fitting that when VH1 wanted to put the show together they asked me to participate!

HOVG:  Is the show a fair representation of what it is like to be a baseball wife?

ANNA:  Not necessarily, the life of a baseball wife depends on different things...how much money your husband makes, how long he’s been in the league, what team he plays for, what you do for a living, etc. But I’d say it’s a decent representation.

HOVG:  Who, if you can name names, should be on the show that isn’t…and why?

ANNA:  No one comes to mind, I enjoyed all of the ladies on the show.

HOVG:  I alluded to it earlier, but your dildo “attack” on Cheri Knoblauch made a ton of news last month and drove my site’s traffic through the roof. What happened? Can you walk us through it?

ANNA:  Absolutely not true, never happened.

HOVG:  Okay. Enough about the show. Let’s have some fun…let’s play word association. I’ll throw you a word or phrase and you tell me what comes to mind first. Cleat chaser.

ANNA:  Desperate.

HOVG:  New York Mets fans.

ANNA:  Hopeful.

HOVG:  Kris Benson bashers.

ANNA:  Anna Benson wanters.

HOVG:  Anna Benson bashers.

ANNA:  Mentally challenged.

HOVG:  Howard Stern.

ANNA:  One of the greatest people to influence my life.

HOVG:  The whole Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries mess.

ANNA:  Boring.

HOVG:  PETA.

ANNA:  Not scientific.

HOVG:  Alright…last question. What’s one thing about you that you’d really like everyone to know?

ANNA:  That I am a sweet girl with a huge heart who I adores her family, friends and fans!

HOVG:  So what’s next for you? Where can people find you?

ANNA:  Hopefully we’ll move on to season two of  "Baseball Wives"!  Until then, people can find me online by checking out my website or by following me on Twitter.  And remember, "Baseball Wives" airs every Sunday on VH1!

Anna Benson is Getting Trickerish

I told myself I was done with "Baseball Wives" and, well, that's almost the truth.  Truth is...I'm not watching the show, but I am reading re-caps and watching clips.

I know...I know.

The bombshell from this week's episode...Hall favorite Anna Benson is plotting to trick her husband Kris into having another kid.  Basically, she told Erika "wife of Matt" Williams that she’d stopped taking her birth control pills and was planning a romantic night together with her husband.

Gasp!

I'd explain more, but you can just watch the clip...after you get re-directed to 5min.com of course.

Anna Will Get Her Baby! On 'Baseball Wives'

Curious what Anna's husband Kris thinks about her involvement on the show?  Why not read The Hall's exclusive interview with him?

Talkin' Baseball (and "Wives") with Kris Benson

Naturally, the main subject on everyone's minds this offseason has been the Winter Meetings.  That said, another topic of conversation heating things up has been VH1's latest hit show "Baseball Wives".

Plenty has been written and said about one of the show's breakout stars Anna Benson, wife of Kris Benson, but has anyone caught up with the former pitcher to chat about his wife's on screen antics?

Well...I had the opportunity.

HOVG: You're a former number one pick and Olympian...you also started your career with 200 consecutive starts before heading to the bullpen, what would you call your greatest accomplishment on the mound?

BENSON: There's really too many to say just one. Number one overall pick, bronze medal in my hometown, first game in the Majors, coming back from shoulder surgery. Tough Call!

HOVG: Where does that gem you tossed June 17, 2006 versus your former team, the New York Mets, rank?

BENSON: It definitely ranks right up there because I hit my first and only home run (off Pedro Martinez). I won, but it's all about the homer!

HOVG:  It's pretty well documented that you met your wife Anna at a stripclub. Love at first sight or did it take a while for the two of you to hit it off?

BENSON: A mutual friend introduced us as she was about to walk out the door and it was on like Donkey Kong!

HOVG: Also well documented are Anna's comments about some of your former teammates. Did her outspoken demeanor hurt your relationship with your Mets teammates and team management? If so...how?

BENSON: Not at all. It was business as usual. It was more about the media sensationalizing it all, but it made for a good read. Writing about 162 games of baseball gets boring after awhile. Sports people would rather see a player's girl take her clothes off, look hot, and be quite, then keep her clothes on and have a personality and opinion. They're all intimidated.

HOVG: But you're getting the last laugh now with "Baseball Wives"...aren't you? The show seems to be a hit and your wife looks to be the breakout star. Has anything changed for you guys in the past week?

BENSON: Anna's in her element. She was the first wife to make it cool to follow sports wives and for players wives to pose in magazines and spreads. Now everyone does it! Google it up. She's the pioneer and no one gives her credit for that. Oh wait, yeah they do, because she's the only one on NBC, ESPN, TMZ, FOX, you name it! Really though, would anyone be watching if Anna wasn't on there?

HOVG: I can't disagree.  How accurate is the portrayal of the baseball wife lifestyle?

BENSON: It depends on what environment you put them in. Do they party? Hell yeah. Do they get into drama at and away from the field? Hell yeah. But you have to entertain when you're on TV. Everyone wants to see the "true life of a baseball wife". Well, does everyone want to fall asleep or flip the channel after the first 10 minutes?  That's what documentaries are for. Boring.

HOVG: It looks like the producers selected a pretty good mix of "wives" to appear on the show. Who did they miss? I mean...what "baseball wife" did they miss out on casting? Who out there is an absolutely goldmine?

BENSON: I didn't pay attention to any of the other wives. We would run home to do our thing...with the kids that is. When it comes to reality show material, Anna's the only true home run, believe it!

HOVG: What's next for you...where can people find you? Facebook, Twitter, website, etc.

BENSON: I'm Managing Director for a boutique business management firm out of NYC, working under the man who started it all in this industry. I run the Atlanta office. We rep athletes, entertainers, and high net-worth individuals...actually, REALLY cool clients everyone has seen and heard of. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter at @KrisBenson34.

Kris Benson spent parts of nine seasons in the Majors, with stops in Pittsburgh, New York, Arizona, Texas and Baltimore.  For his career, he compiled a 58-62 record and posted a 4.26 ERA.  On April 9, 1999, he became just the second number oneoverall pick to win his big league debut.

Breaking Down the "Baseball Wives" Husbands

Last year at this time, I had the pleasure to talk with Brad Mangin about his career as a San Francisco Bay area photographer.  A year later, I realized that Mangin and I have something more in common than baseball and me looking at his pictures of baseball.

Enter the newest VH1 guilty pleasure "Baseball Wives".

Over at Mangin's blog, the acclaimed photographer broke down, one by one, the better halves of the cast of "Baseball Wives".  And it turns out...he's snapped some pretty awesome pictures of the "Wives" husbands along the way.

Here's Mangin's breakdown, and yeah...you can click on the BOLD names to check out a photo gallery of that player.

KRIS BENSON
Benson is still married to Anna, his wife who became more famous than him during his days of toiling for the Pirates, Mets, Orioles and other squads. In 2004, Anna, the former stripper, posed for the cover and a spread in FHM magazine and was named “baseball’s hottest wife.” In an interview with Howard Stern later that year, she vowed that if her husband ever cheated on her she would take revenge by sleeping with the entire Mets organization. Awesome!

Needless to say Anna’s husband must be used to being married to his controversial wife, but I wonder what he thinks about the show?

MATT WILLIAMS
The former All-Star is on his third wife, and her name is Erika Monroe Williams. The good news for him is he has an insanely awesome 20,000 square foot house in the Scottsdale area and a nice job coaching with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The bad news? His wife is looking pretty ridiculous on “Baseball Wives.”

I covered Matt for his entire career and he was always a classy guy who will forever be beloved in San Francisco. He has been through a few troubled marriages, and I can’t see how this show will help his current one. Erika got off to a rocky start in the premier episode while hosting a cocktail party for the other “wives.” How cool it would have been to see Matt wander through the kitchen looking for a beer. No dice. What we got was the beginning of a verbal cat fight that spilled into episode two.

For Matt’s sake I hope that things slow down for Erika on the show and that Anna stops beating up on her. For the show’s sake it would be great if she keeps causing trouble!

JASON KENDALL
The recently retired catcher’s ex-wife Chantel Kendall has a checkered past and is a very polarizing character on “Wives.” Jason always seemed kinda goofy when I photographed him. He was a real hard-ass with the A’s and helped them to their great season in 2006. I never saw Chantel at any of the family softball games at the Oakland Coliseum. I can’t imagine how entertaining that would have been!

After two shows it seems that Chantel hates pretty much every other “wife” with the exception of a surprise guest we will learn about down below. Also, her skinny arms and tattoos scare me.

MARK GRACE
First of all I was surprised to hear that  Grace was ever married. He was always a great interview on the Jim Rome show during his playing days talking about “slump busters” and strip clubs. I learned that he USED to be married in the first episode of “Wives.” Tanya Grace is Mark’s ex-wife and one of the more outgoing stars of the show. The avid golfer met Mark when she was a golf cart girl.

Mark seems to have a good sense of humor and is a local TV broadcaster for the Diamondbacks. I wonder what he thinks of seeing Tanya on “Wives.” I bet he kinda gets a kick out of it!

RON VILLONE
Villone's current wife Brooke has come out of the first two episodes pretty unscathed. Brooke is a model with a really long neck and seems to stay out of everyone’s business as she hangs out with some of the looser women on the show.

NYJER MORGAN
The nutty Morgan has the unfortunate task of being the former boyfriend of the youngest star of “Wives” Jordana Lenz. Lenz is a young and trashy stalker who went to the Milwaukee Brewers team hotel during the 2011 NLDS whole Morgan and the Brewers were in town to play the Diamondbacks. She practically chased him into the elevator! She complains that once Morgan got to a good team he dumped her.

The thinking here is that T. Plush can do much better than Lenz.

CHUCK KNOBLAUCH
The best part of Wednesday night’s episode was the arrival at Scottsdale Airport of Cheri Knoblauch, the current wife of Chuck. Cheri was picked up by her good friend Chantel Kendall and they instantly plotted how there were gonna harass nemesis Anna Benson. Anna has been a bitch to Chantel and Cheri has come to town to save the day. It seems that Cheri and Anna know each other from the 1990′s when Kris Benson pitched for the Pirates and Cheri was dating his teammate Brian Giles. You just know that sparks will fly when they get together, and I was not disappointed.

In a future episode Anna will supposedly attack Cheri with 12-inch dildo!

Knoblauch was a good ballplayer and a former World Champion with the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. I can’t imagine that he is too thrilled to have his wife on this show, but who knows? Maybe they need the cash!

BRIAN GILES
Giles won a big court decision against his ex-girlfriend Cheri Olvera (Knoblauch), who had sued him for more than $10 million in 2008. Giles allegedly abused Olvera and the jury also awarded Giles the return of the $107,000 engagement ring he purchased for their canceled 2007 wedding. During the trial Giles testified that he didn’t strike his girlfriend at a bar in Phoenix in 2006, testimony that contradicted witness statements to Phoenix police.

But wait...it gets better.

Giles suggested in his testimony that the 2006 incident was a case of Olvera being drunk. He said Olvera “often falls when she’s intoxicated” and wearing high heels. Giles’ attorneys tried to portray the case as part of a pattern by Olvera to pursue rich men for money to satisfy her lavish lifestyle. Olvera testified she was currently engaged to Chuck Knoblauch. Olvera also testified that while living with Giles, she had someone to help her shop, an occasional driver, housekeepers and a woman to blow-dry her hair for $100 each time.

Awesome!

Well, there you have it. The men behind the women. I hope you enjoyed this rundown of the active and in-active roster players who have laced’ em up with the “Baseball Wives".

Wednesday nights on VH1. Don’t miss it!

Anna Benson Takes Aim at PETA

Now that VH1's "Baseball Wives" has debuted as some sort of, wait for it, hit (zing!)...it appears that it's brash star, the animal hating/loving, gun-toting Anna Benson is already hitting the Twitters to take on a predictable foe.

oh no I am so afraid. PETA is boring and tired and liars. I hope they hate me half as much F*CK U PETA

Yup...the dildo-wielding wife of former pitcher Kris Benson is taking on PETA.

Not a surprise really if you watched the show Wednesday night.  Anna hit up a furrier to purchase a gift for fellow baseball wife Chantel "actually the ex-wife of Jason" Kendall and, naturally, one for herself. 

Included in what she was looking for...a stole with a head for a hood.  Now, I searched online and, honestly, I'm not even sure that exists!

This should be an awesome fight to watch play out.