History Main / BatterUp

* A very common element in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' fanfiction. The show's [[WhatCouldHaveBeen "Beta" concept art]] showed [[TheHero Luz Noceda]] wielding a red baseball bat, and the fandom has latched on to this. As a result, it is immensely common to see Luz using a bat as a weapon at some point. AlternateUniverseFic based on this concept art usually takes it a step further and has Luz use the bat as her primary weapon, sometimes combining it with her glyphs to deliver magically charged strikes. Sometimes other characters (usually Amity) will be seen wielding the bat too, such as in ''Fanfic/TheresNoOneLikeYou''. Ironically, the bat ''was'' used in the show by another character: Luz's mother, Camila, although she never swung it.

* Subverted in Finland, where they ''are'' genuinely used as sports gear. One of Finland's national sports is ''pesäpallo'', which is similar to baseball--in part because a Finn who traveled to America observed American baseball in the 1910s and 1920s, liked what he saw, and combined it with traditional Finnish bat-and-ball games to produce a new modern sport sometimes called "Finnish baseball" for its similarity to the American sport; the equipment at least is largely similar. Baseball gloves make also neat street hockey gloves.

* [[Music/{{Beyonce}} Beyonce's]] video for "Hold Up" features her cheerfully skipping down a city street in a gorgeous yellow dress... [[DissonantSerenity whilst wielding a baseball bat and vandalizing everything in sight]].

* ''VideoGame/GuardianTales'': Fittingly for [[PassionateSportsGirl Rie]], her Exclusive Weapon Victoria is a bat.

Also if a normal baseball bat isn't enough, it's common in fiction to just pound [[SavageSpikedWeapons nails, spikes or even glass into it]]. [[AwesomeButImpractical They're not practical]], but they sure do look like they would hurt a lot if they connect. A more rare (and arguably more practical) version is to wrap [[ChainPain chains]] or even [[ComicBook/TheWalkingDead barbed wire]] around it or just cover it with other kinds of junk.

Overlaps with instances of ImprobableWeaponUser, WeaponSpecialization and ImprovisedWeapon. Subtrope of IKnowMaddenKombat. Bonus points when the phrase is used as a PreAsskickingOneliner.

* In ''Manga/NatsumesBookOfFriends'', occasional flashbacks show that Takashi's grandmother, Natsume Reiko, used a baseball bat covered in [[PaperTalisman [=Ofuda=]]] as her principal weapon. And considering the number of [[{{Youkai}} spirits, demons and minor gods]] she [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu defeated and enslaved]], she must've been quite the slugger with it...

** Mr. 9 and Mr. 4 use bats, a pun off their names; there are ''nine'' people up to bat, and the ''fourth'' batter is typically the best so that they can score a grand slam.

* In the ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' prequel ''Jack'', Taishi Fura is a delinquent that used to play baseball. He fends off the BigBad with a baseball bat, and later starts using one with ''nails'' [[SavageSpikedWeapons embedded in it]] as a weapon while hunting Ghouls with [[TheAce Arima]].

-->... Instead, I pray to Joe Pesci. Why? Two reasons. First, I think he's a good actor, and that counts for something. Second, [[HairTriggerTemper Joe]] [[ClusterFBomb Pesci]] looks like the kind of guy who can get things done. For years I asked God to do something about my nosy neighbor with the barking dog. Joe Pesci straightened that cocksucker out with one visit. [[CuttingTheKnot Amazing what one can accomplish with a simple wooden baseball bat...]]

** The Sportsmaster also used a wooden bat. This was bad news for Alan Scott, since his version of the Green Lantern Ring is useless against wood.

* ''{{ComicBook/Preacher}}'': The "Good Ol' Boys" story has Jody participate in a pit fight against a gorilla , killing it using a baseball bat. Once he emerges from the fight to have a word with the fight's organizer, he rams the bat up the organizer's ass.

** In several early strips, Calvin threatens to use the baseball bat stored in his bedroom for defending himself against the [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight monsters lurking under his bed]].

--> '''Mikoto:''' Bats are more Saten-san's field.

* In ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'', Chloe Cerise has an aluminum softball bat called "Silver Night". While she doesn't use it for fighting -- as she's on the Infinity Train at this point -- her brother, Parker, uses it as his own weapon and nearly uses it to bash the brains one of the bullies who harassed his sister.

* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'': Kasen, Shokudaikiri and Taikogane each wields one to presumably administer a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to [[spoiler:Konotegashiwa]] off-screen.

* Wanna-be gangsta Raji Lowenthal uses a red baseball bat in ''Film/BeCool'' to get even with another character who insulted his manner of speech... only after said character was already incapacitated.

* At the start of ''Film/TheCarRoadToRevenge'', CowboyCop Rainer hands a baseball bat to the girl Tinkerman was abducting, and lets her smash him in the head with it.

* In ''Film/EvenLambsHaveTeeth'', Katie and Sloan use baseball bats on multiple of their targets; knocking out the Pastor and Sheriff Andrews with then, and beating Jed to death.

* In ''Film/{{Flubber}}'', when Wesson and Smith are breaking in to Professor Philip Brainard's house to steal the Flubber, Weebo attacks them. Wesson manages to deal the finishing blow on Weebo with Philip's baseball bat.

* In ''Film/InnocentBlood'', the cop uses a bat on the vampire gangster's thug, and breaks the bat on him.

* In ''Film/TheLastDetail'', a bartender tells the protagonists he's gonna pull out the gun he has under the bar if they don't settle down, and Creator/JackNicholson says he knows for a fact all the bartender has under there is a baseball bat, because he saw him pull it out one night and bash some kid over the head with it.

* In the ColdOpen to ''Film/AScoreToSettle'', Max bashes a bagman from a rival mob to death with a baseball bat: a crime that Frankie takes the fall for. Frankie returns years later with same bat intending to use it on Max, [[spoiler:only to change his mind when he discovers that Max has been in a coma for 15 years]].

-->'''Jack:''' I'm not gonna hurt ya...I'm just gonnna ''bash your fuckin' brains in''!

* In ''Film/SilverBullet'', Reverend Lester kills Sheriff Haller while transforming into a werewolf by bashing his skull with with a baseball bat he had taken from one of his victims.

** As well as a cricket bat[=:=]
-->'''Casey:''' Alright, new game, round-head. (''takes it out, and adapts a batsman's pose'') Cricket?\\

* The Baseball Furies gang in the movie ''Film/TheWarriors'' is baseball themed, and all use baseball bats as their weapons. After the Warriors beat them up, several Warriors carry their baseball bats into future rumbles.

--> Last year, the sports shops around Russia had sold three million baseball bats, four baseball gloves, and one baseball.

* In ''Literature/GilsAllFrightDiner'', the ghost Cathy has to fight another ghost. Since they can't touch any physical objects, she has to create a weapon from her own memories, and comes up with... a baseball bat.
* The ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''I Live In Your Basement'' features protagonist Marco flouting his mother's warnings not to play softball with the other kids by doing it anyway. The first chapter ends with him getting smacked on the side of the head with a baseball bat by an athletic girl named Gwynnie [[labelnote:note]]who is later revealed to [[spoiler: be his younger sister, and the person who really hit him with the bat was Jeremy]] [[/labelnote]]. This is what kickstarts the plot.
* This is an occasional weapon in ''Literature/TheHardyBoys'' through process of elimination. ThouShaltNotKill, so slashing and piercing weapons are out, and since they usually avoid combat they don't carry standard weapons, but a baseball bat can be scavenged to use as an ImprovisedWeapon for a TapOnTheHead.

** In ''Literature/OneQEightyFour'', Aomame used a softball bat to smash the objects in the house of her late best friend's absuive husband. In the present, she requests a bat for self defense in case someone from Sakigake should get too close.

* During the Sword of Schueler riots in the ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' novels, one group of rioters attacked a family of Charisian expatriates. One of them had been a professional baseball player before emigrating from Charis, and had his lucky bat on him during the riots. It didn't go very well for the rioters.

* In one episode of ''Series/ColdCase'', the victim was a baseball player [[spoiler:who, on being harassed one more time by homophobic thugs, finally lost his temper and went after them with a bat. Sadly, it was three on one and he ended up being beaten to death with it.]]

** This seems to be Leti's go to weapon. She was also prepared to give Tic a tap or two during his UnstoppableRage.

** Jones gets knocked out with a cricket bat in "Last Man Out", and the killer would have beaten him to death with it had not Barnaby showed up.

* Calvin of ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaSteel'' used a (presumably aluminum) baseball bat to fight a monster prior to becoming a ranger. The only outcomes were slowing the monster down, enraging it and bending the bat.
* In the last episode of the first season of ''Series/QueerAsFolkUS'', Justin is hit over the head with a baseball bat by his homophobic classmate, and is very nearly killed.

** In Season 2, Cheese Wagstaff's crew has a few members carrying bats when they gang up on Ziggy[[note]]aka "Fucknuts" aka "Malaka"[[/note]] Sobotka, although most of the ass-whooppin Ziggy gets is from Cheese's fists.

** Vyvyan sometimes used a cricket bat as weapon; mostly against his fellow housemates.

* This is Wrestling/SamiCallihan's to-go weapon for most part of his career.

* At least one baseball bat is assigned in each season of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', whether on its own or with additions such as a nail being imbedded into it. Version One's Adam Dodd used one to make his first kill during an UnstoppableRage on someone who attacked his TrueCompanions, a taste of things to come for him.

* Thornies in ''VideoGame/EightBitKiller'' are the most basic mooks whose only method of attacking is to walk up to you and bash your head with a barbed bat.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Blinx}} 2'' one of the weapons that can be obtained is a baseball bat called the Grand Slam. It is a one-use weapon that is guaranteed to take out an opponent. After using it, you have to find a new one, because it breaks in the process. But it can make all the difference. Plus, making a really annoying guard ATwinkleInTheSky is priceless.

* ''VideoGame/DeathRoadToCanada'' features baseball bats as melee weapons you can find in infested sporting good stores, or a playable character with the 'Athlete' perk may start with one. Aluminum bats are just as strong and unbreakable if you can obtain one.

* ''VideoGame/DodgeballAcademia'': Suneko has a baseball bat, which is fitting for her trouble maker persona, she can use it for her Balltimate move as well.

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' also has the baseball bat, though its unique VATS attack is called the Grand Slam. [[SortingAlgorithmOfWeaponEffectiveness Its also one of those early game ineffectual melee weapons you'll want to dump for something better as soon as possible.]] However, the Gun Runners' Arsenal version can be modded to be more effective, including turning it into a nailbat. With all mods it hits 6 points harder, swings 20% faster, and lasts 50% longer.

* ''VideoGame/HonkaiStarRail'': The Trailblazer’s weapon when using the Path of Destruction is a baseball bat that was conveniently laying near where they were found on the Herta Space Station.

* Baseball bat is a LethalJokeItem in ''VideoGame/JetsNGuns''. It only works at point blank range, but deals enormous damage.

* An available weapon in ''VideoGame/MarcEckosGettingUpContentsUnderPressure'', for some reason broken glass shards have been duct-taped into it. You can clearly hear the "chink" everytime you hit somebody with it.

* Bad Girl from ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''; Most of the other assassins the game use ridiculously complex gadgets and weapons (Speed Buster attacks you with a WaveMotionGun disguised as a ''shopping cart''). Bad Girl is able to rise above all but one of them with nothing but a wooden bat and [[AxCrazy a serious case of the deep-down crazies]]. And [[AbnormalAmmo projectile gimps.]] She even says the Trope name during her downward swing, and if you hurt her enough, she sets in on '''[[IncendiaryExponent fire]]'''. Her father Bad Man, as shown in ''VideoGame/TravisStrikesAgainNoMoreHeroes'', also uses a diamond-cored bat that can clash with a beam katana and [[spoiler:briefly stun a rampaging HumanoidAbomination]] and was a baseball player before becoming an assassin.

*** Taken to its logical conclusion when Junpei becomes playable in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', which takes place 2 years after ''Persona 3''. Junpei is now a baseball coach, and he exclusively uses bats as his main weapons. His fighting style actually revolves around scoring hits with said bat and getting "runs" while trying not to whiff attacks and getting "strikes", essentially causing this trope to overlap with IKnowMaddenKombat.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' lets the protagonist equip one as well. It only hits 30% of the time (though [[FridgeBrilliance when you think about it]], that's a pretty good batting average), but has a much higher than normal rate of critical hits.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': One of Ryuji's blunt melee weapons he can use to beat enemies to pulp is a baseball bat covered in nails, in keeping with his {{Delinquent|s}} looks.

* ''VideoGame/RagingJustice'' have bats as recurring weapon you can use to smash enemies' faces in. Defeat enough enemies with the bat and the game will announce onscreen, "Homerun!"

* Frank West carries a bat into ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'', both as a special move and a super move. The trope name is even one of his sound bites. Bats have sort of become an IconicItem for Frank. In ''[[VideoGame/DeadRising2 Dead Rising 2: Case West]]'', an AI controlled Frank has an infinite supply of bats as weapons.

* Baseball Bats are a pretty common weapon in ''VideoGame/UrbanReign'' and can even be used to launch an unlucky target like you're going for a homerun.

* New York Mets fans, Monday and Dale from ''Webcomic/DeadWinter'' have a liking for baseball bats. With the latter being his [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]] and the two bonding because of their similar interests.
* In ''Webcomic/AntiBunny'', Nailbat lives up to his name by effectively wielding his namesake [[SavageSpikedWeapon spiked bats]] against crime, robots, and supernatural beings. He later upgrades to [[DualWielding two bats]], and also demonstrates that he uses them as [[ImprobableUseOfAWeapon effective climbing tools as well]].

* ''Webcomic/MedicPics'': The author (and his [[LiteralSplitPersonality artist self]]) uses this on two occasions to to dispose of things they don't like - AI, and people who don't like the flashcard software, Anki.

* In ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'', the superhero Metal Bat, true to his name, is always armed with a baseball bat made out of a very sturdy metal, and can even battle giant monsters with it. After getting tired of his bats constantly bending or breaking from high impacts, he eventually acquires one that is seemingly MadeOfIndestructium.

* ''Webcomic/{{Rebirth}}'': Li during the mall trip. She bashes in an undead's head with a bat, and spends the rest of the trip carrying around the bloodstained weapon. Everyone is rightfully intimidated.

* A deranged hillbilly used one to knock the WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd unconscious. Since he already had it when him when the Nerd showed up unexpectedly, it may very well have been his weapon of choice.

* The trope is OlderThanPrint, as 16th century soldier UsefulNotes/DiegoGarciaDeParedes famously got into a brawl against a squad of Papal Guards in Rome while solely armed with a rod from a medieval sport called ''tirar a la barra'' (it's unclear what did it exactly entail, but it involved using a heavy iron rod). It served him well, as he and the other six people he was playing with killed five guards and hospitalized ten.

* In Russia (where baseball notably failed to get any semblance of popularity) bats outsell all other baseball paraphernalia combined by orders of magnitude. In the [[UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia '90s]] it was considered a common "car accessory" on par with a {{crowbar|Combatant}} or a [[WrenchWhack tire wrench]]. It's always a baseball bat and never a hockey stick, because hockey is a genuinely popular sport in Russia.
* Same for Poland, to the point that "replicas of baseball bats" are considered a weapon under the Firearms and Ammunition Act. No other ordinary tool, including knives of any kind are weapons and are completely unregulated. There were billboards displaying a baseball bat with the slogan, "Służy do grania, nie do zabijania" ("This is for playing with, not for killing with").
* During the riots in London and other cities in the UK in the summer of 2011, it was noted that baseball bats suddenly shot up to the top of Amazon UK's list of top selling sports equipment, mostly due to people wanting to defend their homes from rioters. Many of the reviews posted during that time focused on the bats' usefulness for whacking looters over the head, often with an aside along the lines of "And you can use it to play ball, too."

* It has been reported that China, a country with an almost nonexistent baseball culture, has observed a slew of people seeking bats for self defense.

* Al Capone's murder of a henchman with a baseball bat in ''The Untouchables'' did happen, but the real incident was much bloodier and gruesome than what the movie shows. Three henchmen, John Scalise, Albert Anselmi and Joseph Giunta, plotted to assassinate Capone and seize his criminal empire. Capone found out via a loyal intermediary. He threw a gala dinner in their honor in Hammond, Indiana. After they were engorged with food and sated with wine, Capone's henchmen jumped them on a prearranged signal and tied them to their chairs. Capone produced the baseball bat and beat the three almost to death; they were each then shot in the head execution-style to finish them off. Their bodies were then left on a deserted stretch of road outside of town.

* ''Fanfic/ArcPhantoms'': Yuzu wields a baseball bat during the infiltration into Sora's Palace.

* In ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'', Harley uses a bat in multiple fight scenes. In the final fight, though she switches over to a [[DropTheHammer giant mallet]] and it's Black Canary who uses the bat.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' has the Louisville Slugger baseball bat, which is obtainable from Mrs. Wright in New Reno if you help her sabotage the Wrights' stills and is one of the best melee weapons in the game, second only to the [[DropTheHammer Super Sledge]].

* Both Keiichi and Satoshi in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''.

* Subverted to comedic effect in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' novel ''Flag in Exile'' when the main character, unfamiliar with baseball (which has only held out on long-isolated Grayson), confuses baseball bats ''for'' clubs, but is actually looking at people gathering for a Sunday afternoon pickup game in the local park. Her chief bodyguard, a Grayson native, finally stops laughing long enough to explain that no, they are not facing an incipient riot.

All of this makes baseball bats very good weapons, and they're commonly considered as such in RealLife in any country where baseball can be found. Brits, Indians, or Aussies could substitute a UsefulNotes/{{Cricket}} bat — artfully described on the UsefulNotes/CricketRules page as "flat on one side, making it ideal for hitting people who owe you money without leaving a bruise. The flatness also gives it edges, for when you ''do'' want to leave a bruise".

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series:

** Subverted by Tatsuo Shinada in the fifth game. Despite specializing in club weapons as well as being a former baseball player he refuses to use actual baseball bats as weapons due to his respect for the sport. If he gets his hands on one in a fight, he takes a moment to gaze at it longingly before putting it down on the ground. He is however able to [[IKnowMaddenCombat use his baseball experience/training]] to deliver some pretty powerful swings with other weapons.

** Subverted by Tatsuo Shinada in the fifth game. Despite specializing in club weapons as well as being a former baseball player he refuses to use actual baseball bats as weapons, due to his respect for the sport. If he gets his hands on one in a fight, he takes a moment to gaze at it longingly before putting it down on the ground.
-->'''Shinada:''' Baseball bats aren't made to hurt people ...

* In ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}: The Wolf Among Us'', Bigby uses a cricket bat (labelled "Crowd Control") to smash up the Pudding 'n Pie Club.

* In ''Series/GoldenBoy'' the detectives are investigating the death of a politician and are told that the body was shot after death and the actual cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. They then remember that the politician had a valuable autographed baseball bat in his office that seemed to have been cleaned recently.
* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' "Graphic Novel:Normal Lives", Noah beats Marcus with a baseball bat to prevent him from harming anyone else.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor "The Power of The Doctor"]]: Ace [[TheBusCameBack returns]] 34 years after "Rememberance of the Daleks" aired and reveals she hasn't lost her touch, whipping out her trusty baseball bat to deal with a team of Daleks planning to blow up a volcano.

** In early strips, Calvin keeps a baseball bat in his bedroom for defending himself against the [[ThingsThatGoBumpInTheNight monsters lurking under his bed]].

* In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin makes fishing fun by having Hobbes hoist him over the water with a fishing rod while he takes aim with a baseball bat.

* ''Series/OneOfUsIsLying'': Addy smashes Giselle's car up with the bat after Simon Says commands her to. However, as she was already mad at Giselle Addy leapt to obey.

* Music/EazyE usually has a gun or two with him in his songs, but his meele weapon of choice is a Louisville Slugger, as depicted in the aptly named "Sorry Louie", where he successfully fends off two would-be attackers with a bat and later [[WouldHurtAChild kills a kid with it]] to [[LeaveNoWitnesses escape a murder charge]].

* ''Exterminator!'' by Creator/WilliamSBurroughs contains a sequence in which order has broken down, and people form costumed mobs, including

* ''Fraternity of the Stone'' by David Morrell. The assassin protagonist while a youth knocks out the teeth of a school bully with one, as he regards him as no different from the terrorists that killed his parents. Although the headmaster is sympathetic, he naturally thinks this is overkill and expels him.

* Another instance of baseball bats being used against zombies (although with more effectiveness) occurs in ''The House of Daniel'' by Harry Turtledove.