Designing a Dieselpunk Baseball Bat worthy of the Mafioso of the Future

Hey there,

I've been a longtime Steampunk, and earlier I've just discovered Dieselpunk and frankly I'm in love with it (I'm surprised I haven't discovered it earlier, since 1920's-40's era in American History, I can't get enough of)

Anyways, my first stint into Dieselpunk I want to do is a simple costume for when I go to Conneticon 11 this year. The concept is a Dieselpunk Mobster. I have the basic suit, suspenders, and tie all rounded up, and I intend to do some modifications to a Fedora soon (Diesel powered Head Warmer anyone?). However I was thinking of a creative prop to create, so I won't do what everyone else does by buying a Nerf Maverick and painting it.

The Mob loved to crack open skulls with a Baseball bat, and whats what I'm aiming to create. 

Would anyone have any ideas on how I could get this done? I was thinking of using the cheap plastic wiffle ball bats as the base, since I doubt I can bring a Louisville slugger. One major Idea I had was to "electrify" the Bat by winding a wire around it, and it ending it with some sort of device with a yank (Think the cord you pull to start a chainsaw) somewhere at the handle)

Anyways, since you've been prowling the streets and skyways before me, anyone else have any ideas or any advice?