Bizarre Bensons file for divorce

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Anna Benson has requested a divorce from Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson, who still believes the New York Mets traded him in response to actions by his impulsive wife.

Anna Benson, an actress and model who has posed topless, filed for divorce in Atlanta on Thursday. The petition for divorce claims the marriage is "irretrievably broken."

The couple has been married for seven years.

In 2005, his first full season with the Mets, Benson allowed three runs or fewer in 19 starts. He was 10-8 with a 4.31 ERA, but New York won 17 of the 28 games in which he pitched.

Despite those numbers, the right-hander was traded to the Orioles in January for pitchers Jorge Julio and John Maine. There was speculation that the deal was perpetuated by the behavior of Anna, who has her own web site and publicly discussed intimate details of their sex life.

Mets general manager Omar Minaya contended that Anna Benson was not a factor in the trade.

-- AP