National League is the greatest performance-enhancer of all

Given the times, there was a lot of speculation. There were rumors, as there are for anyone who puts up those kinds of numbers. Some even had him on a list or two. But even though his sin was more evident than just about anyone in the history of baseball, no one could get him.Until now.Albert Pujols is guilty of playing in the National League, which is undoubtedly the greatest performance-enhancer of all.Pujols cracked homerun number 40 on Sunday afternoon, but a better indicator of just how far the certain NL MVP is from his competition might be new teammate John Smoltz. After putting up numbers your beer-league softball pitcher would be ashamed of in Boston, Smoltz pitched like Bob Gibson in his first start for St. Louis, setting a Cardinals record by striking out seven consecutive hitters and getting the win.Smoltz is just the latest player to come over and dominate the inferior league. Matt Holliday was traded to St. Louis just before the deadline and hit .400 for over a mo...