Catwoman

The Black Cat is also a feline-themed thief, although she eventually reformed (but still commits the occasional theft) and became Spider-Man's partner and lover for a time. None of the three "non-major" groups listed above could make that claim. Marvel Comics' Black Cat, as initially seen in The Amazing Spider-Man, was originally intended to be a homage to Catwoman, although she eventually developed in a much different direction. The Union's chief claim to major status would rest on having had some direct impact on the other majors, due to roster-raiding. One of the recurring villains in the cartoon Xiaolin Showdown was called "Kat-nappe," and was similar to Catwoman in appearance. Louis) and its membership was a revolving door. Another blond Catwoman, her costume and history appeared to be based on the Batman Returns version of the character. Conversely, some historians question whether the Union Association really qualifies as "major", because it really only had one major-league caliber team (St.

Catwoman was portrayed by Maggie Baird. Specifically, the following can be said of these leagues:. Selina Kyle appeared briefly (and was killed off) in the first episode of the short-lived 2002 television series Birds of Prey, which featured Catwoman's daughter by Batman, the Huntress. In general, the official stance is that game and statistical records for these particular leagues were not kept in a consistent manner and/or those leagues did not have a significant direct impact on the major leagues. In the TV movie Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt, Julia Rose appeared as Catwoman and the young Julie Newmar. Some researchers contend that the following leagues deserve consideration as major leagues due to the caliber of player and the level of play exhibited:. Halle Berry won the 2005 Razzie award for worst actress in a film for her role as Catwoman, and collected it in person; only the second Razzie 'winner' to have done so. The MLB list included the following:.

The movie became a box-office failure, and was panned by critics & fans alike. The list is sometimes disputed by baseball researchers. In addition, the original "Catwoman" outfit that Patience wears when she robs a jewelry store is patterned after the "Catwoman" outfit worn by Eartha Kitt in the 1960s "Batman" tv series. In 1969, the centennial of professional baseball, a commission chartered by Major League Baseball identified the following leagues as "major leagues". Ophelia Powers then throws photos of previous catwomen down to her, and one can clearly see a picture of Michelle Pfeiffer's "Batman Returns" version of the character, which hints that either there is some link between Patience Phillips and Selina Kyle, or that it was done as a means of paying homage to the original character. MLB's reluctance to take a hard line on drugs (as many other sports feature far more strict testing and penalties) is widely seen as one of the main reasons why baseball has been dropped from the Olympics with effect from 2012. In the scene where Patience is told of the history of the Catwomen, she is pushed off the balcony and lands in the living room floor. These new proposed penalties are much harsher, however they must be accepted by MLB players and owners before any changes can be made.

The film was heavily criticized by both film critics and fans of the comic book character and was a failure in the box office, losing the producers far more money than it earned. Finally, the 3rd positive test would result in a lifetime suspension from MLB. Though Phillips has the same skills as the villain version of Catwoman, the film's story has nothing to do with Batman (who isn't mentioned during the film). The 2nd positive test would result in a 100 game suspension. The movie alludes to other women in the past who have been granted such cat- like abilities. The 1st positive test would result in a 50 game suspension. Patience had gained the powers from the goddess Bastet, through a gathering of cats lead by an Egyptian Mau. The new penalties that Bud Selig has proposed are a “three strikes and you’re out approach” and go as follows:.

This film's Catwoman bore nearly no resemblance to the comic version, besides sharing the name "Catwoman." In the film, Berry played Patience Phillips, a woman who eventually became Catwoman, a hero with supernatural cat-like powers, after a near death experience. In recent news, Bud Selig, the Commissioner of MLB, has proposed even tougher penalties for positive tests than the ones in place today. In 2004, Catwoman, a movie, starring Halle Berry as Catwoman. The new agreement makes sure that first time offenders are rightfully suspended. While many viewers and critics enjoyed the richness and complexity of the character, not to mention the way Pfeiffer looked and acted in the heavy makeup and the shiny black costume, fans of the original comic books disliked the notorious alterations and considered not only the character but the entire film to be more Tim Burton than Batman. Under the old policy, which was established in 2002, a first time offense would only result in treatment for the player. you've kind of a dark side, don't you?", to which she answers, "Not darker than yours, Bruce"), and this relationship seems to be Selina's only grip on sanity as her mental state seems to deteriorate (along with her costume, which is actually a metaphor of her) throughout the movie - now unrepressed thanks to her nightly alter-ego, the rage and resentment of her dark side are actually starting to destroy her. This program would replaces the previous steroid testing program under which, for example, no player was even suspended in 2004.

behind the Cat"), just as Bruce Wayne finds a reflection of himself in Selina ("You.. (See: List of Major League Baseball players suspended for steroids). the woman.. Players will be tested at least once per year, with the chance that several players can be tested a numerous amount of times per year. Accordingly with the film's interest in the schizophrenic aspects of its characters, Catwoman finds a reflection of herself in Batman ("Who are you?", she asks him, "Who's the man behind the Bat? Maybe you can help me find.. Finally, the 5th positive test will result in a penalty at the commissioner’s discretion. She is at the same time a feminist version of Batman, defending meek damsels in distress - exactly what she was at the beginning of the film, and probably during most of her life - but insulting them for being so, and a terrorist of sorts, blowing up an entire floor of Shreck's department store and ultimately seeking to kill him. The 4th positive test will result in a suspension of one full year.

Mysteriously given new life by alley cats (in a memorable Burton-esque scene) after her corrupt boss apparently kills her, her repressed rage and sexuality - and, as one could argue, some sort of mystic feline influence as well - create Catwoman, an extreme version of everything she was never allowed - by both society and herself - to be: a loveable rogue, a sexual predator and a powerful woman. The 3rd positive test will result in a suspension of 60 days. Behind this cartoonish and rather stereotypical character, however, lies a shattered soul filled with frustration and self-loathing who only needs - and quite literally gets - a little push to break into insanity. The 2nd positive test will result in a suspension of 30 days. As recreated by Daniel Waters and Tim Burton, Selina Kyle is a beautiful but shy and clumsy young woman who always says the wrong thing, thinks aloud, frequently insults herself and works as the harassed secretary of evil tycoon Max Shreck. The 1st positive test will result in a suspension of up to 10 days. Catwoman was played by Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1992 movie Batman Returns. The new policy, which was accepted by Major League Baseball players and owners, was issued at the start of the 2005 season and goes as follows:.

Catwoman was voiced by a different actress, Gina Gershon, in the 2000s series The Batman. However, after the BALCO steroid scandal, which involved allegations that top baseball players had used illegal performance enhancing drugs, Major League Baseball has finally decided to issue harsher penalties for steroid users. Whether her hair was dyed or her natural color was never made clear. Over most of the course of Major League Baseball, steroid testing was never a major issue. In the second series, however, she appears to have shorter black hair. The team belonging to the league that won the mid-season All-Star game receives home-field advantage in the World Series. In the first animated series Selina/Catwoman had blonde hair, coinciding with the release of Batman Returns, in which she was played by blonde actress Michelle Pfeiffer. In the first and second round of the playoffs, the better seeded team has home-field advantage.

Barbeau also voiced Catwoman in the 2000s online animated series Gotham Girls. 4 seed. She was voiced by Adrienne Barbeau in 1992's Batman: The Animated Series, and its revamp in The New Batman Adventures. 3 seed and 2 seed vs. She appeared on the Batman cartoon of the 1970s ("The New Adventures of Batman") wearing an all-new outfit that has never been seen outside that series. 3 seed, unless this would result in a matchup of two teams from the same division, in which case the matchup is 1 seed vs. She appeared in the Batman cartoon of the 1960s (on the "Superman/Aquaman Hour") wearing the green costume she wore during that time. 4 seed, and 2 seed vs.

Catwoman has been a major character in almost all of Batman's animated series. The matchup for the first round of the playoffs is usually 1 seed vs. Cassandra," the next to last episode of the series. Three rounds of series of games are played to determine the champion:. An uncredited fourth woman played Catwoman as part of a villain team-up in "The Entrancing Dr. The remaining two "wild-card" spots are filled by each league's team that has the best regular season record and is not a division champion. Lee Meriwether portrayed her in the 1966 "Batman" motion picture, based on the television series, when Newmar was unavailable. The first six teams are each league's three division champions.

Catwoman was at various times played by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt in the live-action Batman television series of the 1960s, her first other-media portrayal. When the regular season ends after the first Sunday in October, eight teams enter the post-season playoffs. She does not make an appearence in Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again. This rule exists so that fans of every team have a player to watch for in the All Star Game. Note that The Dark Knight Returns does not hold continuty with most of the newer Batman or Justice League comics as it was written in the 80's and that Catwoman's profesion in it was most likely based on her profession in Frank Miller's earlier work Batman: Year One. By MLB regulation, every team in the majors must have at least one designated all-star player, regardless of voting. She finally appears at Batman's funeral where she yells at Clark Kent that she knows who killed Batman. In 2004, however, MLB instituted a system where some reserves and pitchers were selected by a vote of MLB players, and some were selected by the manager after consulting with the Commissioner's Office.

She warns him that the Joker is worse than ever, he kisses her and then leaves to follow the clue the Joker left. The remaining position players and all of the pitchers on each league's roster were, for a long number of years, solely at the discretion of that team's manager. He then apparently beats her, dresses her up in a Wonder Woman-esque outfit, ties her up, gags her and leaves her where Batman finds her later. Since the 1970s, the eight position players for each team who take the field initially have been voted into the game by fans. I'm lonely," second later on as an apparent prostitute whom the Joker uses to (after subjecting her to a mind control drug) gain acess to the governor through one of her girls. The Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox took full advantage of the rule, with both teams winning the World Series in a 4-0 sweep in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Catwoman appeared briefly in Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, first early on as a phone message "Bruce, Selina. Through the 2005 season, the AL has won all three contests with this rule.

[3]. The 2005 contest, played in Detroit, followed this format, and it is expected that it will remain that way until the MLB says otherwise, since it has become popular with fans but has upset purists over the previous format of the two leagues alternating home-field advantage every other year. The writer then revealed that the reason for Selina's retirement is that she's pregnant. As a result, for a two-year trial in 2003 and 2004, the league which won the game received the benefit of home-field advantage (four of the seven games of that year's World Series taking place at their home park). Selina is so smooth and polished; it's fun to write about someone who's a little rougher, a little sloppier." [2]. The 2002 contest ended in an 11-inning tie because both teams were out of pitchers, a ridiculous result which proved highly unpopular with the fans. She's also going to handle her duties of protecting the East End in a completely different way than Selina, which so far has been very interesting to write. The All-Star game pits players from the NL, headed up by the manager of the previous NL World Series team, against players from the AL, similarly managed, in an exhibition game.

She's had training, and she's been on the mean streets, but she's going to make some mistakes. Early July marks the midway point of the season, during which a three day break is taken when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game is staged. Writer Will Pfeifer has stated on the new Catwoman, "Without revealing any identities, the new Catwoman is someone with less experience than Selina Kyle -- though she's not completely inexperienced, and she's been part of that shadowy world Catwoman inhabits for years. For a detailed history of the length of the regular season, see Major League Baseball season. In the new year, Selina Kyle has been forced to leave the East End and is no longer Catwoman, and someone new has replaced her. The MLB Draft is among the least followed of the professional sports drafts in the United States. After Infinite Crisis #7, the DC Universe will jump forward one year in time. Each year in June, Major League Baseball conducts a draft for first year players who have never signed a Major or Minor League contract.

Afterwards, she was seen covering her bed with past versions of her Catwoman costume. Typically many intra-division games are scheduled toward the end of the season, anticipating the possibility of close divisional races and heightened fan interest. Catwoman's response to this revelation was unequivocal: she pitched Zatanna out a window. The interleague games are confined to the mid-summer months. Light and Batman. In 1997 Major League Baseball introduced interleague play, which was criticized by the sport's purists but has since proven very popular with most fans. Zatanna gave no reason for her actions, but in flashback it was shown that she had acted with the consent and aid of five of the seven JLA members who had helped her mindwipe Dr. Games are played predominantly against teams within each league through an unbalanced schedule which heavily favors intra-divisional play.

Zatanna proceeded to explain to Catwoman that she had magically tampered with Catwoman's mind, forcibly turning her from villain to hero. A 140 game schedule (7 X 20) was played in 1919, and the schedule before 1904 varied from year to year. After she was done, Zatanna appeared at her side, informing her that she had some "bad news", hinting at an important revelation about her past. Unplanned shortened seasons were played in 1918 due to the outbreak of World War I, and in 1972, 1981, 1994 and 1995 due to player strikes and lockouts. Capitalizing upon the advantage which her "resurrection" provided her (the villains believing she had somehow managed to cheat death), Catwoman dismantled the new East End cadre of criminals, one villain at time. The number of games per opponent now varies depending on various factors, but the total number of games has been kept at 162. The man impersonated her, and allowed several villains to shoot and dismember him, giving the impression to the underworld that Catwoman was really dead (like Clayface, the man was able to survive what would otherwise be fatal wounds). Expansion from 8 to 10 teams in each league in the early 1960s resulted in a revised schedule of 162 games (9 opponents X 18 games apiece, initially) in their expansion years, for the American in 1961 and the National in 1962.

Selina made a deal with a former criminal who had powers similar to Clayface's, who had promised to help her in exchange for his freedom. From 1904 into the early 1960s, except for 1919, a 154-game schedule was played in both leagues (7 opponents X 22 games apiece). While her initial intentions were unclear, Selina shared her plans to infiltrate and destroy the cadre of East End villains with Batman. Each team's regular season consists of 162 games, a duration established in 1961 in the American League and 1962 in the National League. At the start of the recent storyline ("The One You Love"), an influx of supervillains seized control of the East End, leaving Selina with no choice but to join the new incarnation of the Secret Society. They are (number of teams in each division in parenthesis): NL East (5), NL Central (6), NL West (5), AL East (5), AL Central (5) and AL West (4). Selina had no inkling that any villains had been mindwiped until Batman informed her of the events of Identity Crisis, and he now worries that her reformation may be due to mental manipulation. Each has its teams split into three divisions grouped generally by geography.

However, it is now unclear if her reformation was the result of a mindwipe by Zatanna, a procedure known to deeply affect and, in at least one case, physically incapacitate its victims. In all there are 30 teams in the two leagues: 16 in the older National League ("NL") and 14 in the American League ("AL"). Catwoman appears to be completely reformed, and her love for Batman true (although brash and unpredictable).
. In response to Batman's inquiry about her wounds, Selina departed the Batcave after curtly informing Batman that he had already "done enough.". At the moment, however, the major leagues are each split into three divisions, and structured as listed in the table below. However, this was something of a hollow victory, since all recognized that Despero was able to pit the JLA members against one another by drawing upon pre-existing animosities and distrust. At the time of writing the Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig, has often floated the idea of international expansion and realignment of the major leagues.

After a fierce struggle, Despero was subdued. Three rounds of playoffs follow the regular season, culminating in the World Series in late October or early November. When Despero and a faction of brainwashed League members infiltrated the cave and succeeded in brainwashing Batman, Catwoman was able to send a distress call out to the unaffected League members. Players and teams prepare for the season in spring training, primarily in Florida and Arizona, during February and March. Wounded, she was taken to the Batcave to recover. The Major League regular season runs from late March or early April to late September or early October. Recently in the JLA story arc Crisis of Conscience, Catwoman further proved herself an ally when she fought alongside Batman and the League against the old Secret Society, of which she had once briefly been a member. .

At the end, Catwoman broke off their relationship when Batman believed that it had been influenced by the villain Hush. MLB Productions is a similarly-structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media. During the Hush storyline in Batman #608-#619, Batman and Catwoman briefly worked together and had a short affair, during the course of which Batman revealed his true identity to her. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the League itself, but it is indeed under the same ownership group and revenue-sharing plan. This series met with critical and fan acclaim, especially for its first 25 issues. The production/multimedia wing of MLB is New York-based MLB Advanced Media, which oversees MLB.com and all 30 of the individual teams' websites. In this series, Selina Kyle, joined by new supporting cast members Holly and Slam Bradley (a character from the early Golden Age DC Comics), became protector of the residents of Gotham’s East End, while still carrying out an ambitious career as a cat burglar. National League which declared baseball is not considered interstate commerce (and therefore not subject to federal antitrust law), despite baseball's own references to itself as an "industry" rather than a "sport.".

This storyline led in to the newest Catwoman series in late 2001 (written by Brubaker initially with Cooke, later joined by artist Cameron Stewart). Supreme Court ruling in Federal Baseball Club v. In a backup storyline Trail of the Catwoman, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Darwyn Cooke, the reader followed private detective Slam Bradley's attempts to find out what really happened to Selina Kyle. This is due in large part to a 1922 U.S. Catwoman then appeared in a series of backup stories in Detective Comics #759 to #762. MLB also maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of minor league baseball. Soon afterwards she disappeared and was thought killed by the assassin Deathstroke the Terminator, ending her series at #94. As is the case for most North American sports leagues, the 'closed shop' aspect of MLB effectively prevents the yearly promotion and demotion of teams into the Major League by virtue of their performance.