TU: Hey, Jennie, how ya doing?

JF: Good, good.

TU: You don’t remember me, do you?

JF: Uh…no.

TU: My ex-girlfriend and I threw out the first pitch on opening day last year in Chicago when you were on the mound.

JF: [possibly lying] Ohhhhh, okay, that’s right.

TU: [regretting most of his life] Anyway, I got to see you pitch– it was awesome. And I know you’ve pitched against men before and you’ve struck out Major Leaguers, so I’m curious– if you can strike out a Major Leaguer, does that mean that one of the girls who can get a hit off of you could also be a hitter in the Major Leagues?

JF: Well, it’s two different things in a lot of ways. Baseball is obviously overhand whereas softball is underhand– so the release point’s different, the ball moves different, we’re at a shorter distance than the men. I did a thing for Sports Science on Fox Sports Net, and they had a baseball hitter try to hit off me and they had one of my teammates come out and try to hit off a baseball pitcher, and she actually ended up making contact on the first pitch, and I ended up striking the guy out. But the pitcher was a couple years retired, so it’s not like she was facing Randy Johnson or anything.

TU: Your husband is a Diamondbacks pitcher, right?

JF: Yeah, but he was actually traded to the Twins a couple weeks ago.

TU: Oh, really?

JF: Yeah, he’s looking forward to it. It’s a good opportunity and a good chance to perform.

TU: You and Nadia [Comaneci] were these two elite athletes, but both of you were criticized for not showing that competitive fire in the boardroom? Is there a reason that this happened to both of you?

JF: Well Nadia’s in an individual sport, so I think we come from different backgrounds as far as that. Obviously, I play a team sport, but there’s some individualism as far as making the Olympic team, and being a pitcher, so I don’t know if– I don’t know, for me, I’m not the aggressive type, and I’m not the type that’s gonna get down and dirty with my mouth, and that’s why I kind of like performing athletically, because I don’t have to do the talking. I’m not a good trash talker, ya know, but when it comes down to it, I’m gonna get you out. I’m just not the confrontational type. It was a different environment for me, because you were on a team, but yet, we weren’t a team. So that was hard for me, and ya know, obviously you don’t want to throw your teammates under the bus, ya know, those are your teammates, and so I wasn’t used to that and I wasn’t prepared for that to happen, which obviously, I knew it was the boardroom, but to go down four losses in the row, to lose teammates– that’s pretty harsh.

TU: It would probably kill a softball team’s dynamic if you had to turn on each other after every loss.

JF: Oh, definitely.

TU: There’s this whole feud this week that people are talking about between Piers Morgan and Omarosa. Have you heard anything about that?

JF: No, I don’t think so.

TU: You’re just so sick of it all that you don’t want to hear about it, do you?

JF: [laughs] Well, obviously there was a little going on when I was there, but Piers is witty and he does his research and he knows his stuff, so I think, I certainly enjoyed it, listening to them go back and forth.

TU: Who would you say you’re rooting for now?

JF: Ummm, Marilu Henner, she’s just a great person all around, and she’s full of energy, she just amazed me. At 4am she’s going, and at 2am she was going nonstop. She just amazed me in general. For the men, it’s a great group of people. Trace Adkins kind of stole my heart, just being a country music fan–

TU: I think he stole my heart too.

JF: [laughs] So, um, I kind of have a little crush on him.

TU: Do think it’s funny how Piers and Stephen Baldwin are competing for the Alpha Dog status on a team of such tough guys?

JF: Yeah, I do. But I enjoyed Piers, he’s really fun to be around, and I had a great time with him too. So either way, they’re just great people. And it’s for charity, so it’s a win-win.

TU: And what are you up to now?

JF: Training for the Olympics. We are hitting it hard– about 27 days of the month we’ll be traveling from here on out.

TU: That’s exciting.

JF: Yeah, it’s super exciting. They say it’s gonna be the biggest Olympic stage yet.

TU: And who’s your pick for the Superbowl?

JF: I like the Patriots, and you can’t go against trying to root for a perfect season. And at the same time, I root for Eli, and I want to root for the underdog, the Giants, so I’m mixed, but it would be a huge upset for the Giants to come out of there. I just wish for a good game.

TU: [laughs] That’s a good diplomatic answer. Anyway, good talking to you Jennie. And nice job on the show.

Check out Tim’s website, at www.timurban.com, where you can listen to samples of his new album, Turning Home, see pictures, and contact Tim. You can find Tim’s blog at www.timurban.blogspot.com.