Kenny Krahenbuhl is the catfish guy out of Mississippi. We call him the catfish guy because his minor league baseball team traded him for 10 pounds of catfish. Not that the team admitted it. The delivery of the fishy news was left to the Mississippifolks, and it went this way in the Greenville Bluesmen's locker room ...

"Who'd you trade to get me?" Krahenbutd asked.

"A couple players to be named later," assistant general manager Jeff Brown said, using the bushleague code for shoddy merchandise that may never be delivered.

"That's it?" said Krahenbuhl. He's a righthanded pitcher, 28 years old, a Roger Clemens-look-a-like, goateed, 6-2, 225 pounds, a survivor of three elbow surgeries still sweating in America's wooden ballyards for $5,000 a summer because he loves it. No other reason. He loves it even if he's eight years in and learns he's worth only junk to be named later.

Then Jeff Brown told Krahenbuhl that the deal with the Oxnard (Calif.) Pacific Suns included a sweetener.

"We also gave 'em 10 pounds of catfish," Brown said.

Causing Kmhenbuhl to say, "WHAAAAAT?"

And then, "You CANNOT be serious."

After which, "For CATFISH?"

Well, a baseball mystery has been cleared up. Before Kenny Krahenbuhl, we never knew how a man would react when traded for 10 pounds of catfish.

Two hours later, he goes out and pitches a perfect game against the Texas-Louisiana League's best team, the Amarillo Dillas.

"July 22, I'm traded," is how Krahenbuhl begins Baseball's Biggest Fish Story.

"I take four planes. From Los Angeles to El Paso to Houston to Jackson, Miss. I drive two hours to Greenville. I sleep a couple hours and go to the ballpark where they say they're working out the deal so I can pitch that night.

"Now it's two hours before the game and they tell me about the catfish. I'm hot. Any player that gets Waded for a couple fish is not going to like it. It's on my mind the entire game.

"Not only are the Dillas leading the league in hitting at .337, they re throwing the league's best pitcher against us. And the last two innings, it's a downpour, lightning's flashing. What a script, huh?

"Being traded for fish, pitching against the Dillas, my adrenaline is running, and I know I've got a no-hitter going. We've got a 1-0 lead and by the ninth there's water on the infield. Two outs, a guy hits a soft liner at our shortstop. That ball could have splashed off a puddle, but Ryan Johnson short-hops it and throws the guy out.