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I have a different approach...
I look to the left and up just a bit and loudly say something like the following:
What?...No, I promised I wouldn't...Don't make me!
That combined with a T-Shirt which says:
After that they usually mutter something like "Dude, Your Crazy" and then they back away...They never turn and walk away..they always back away. I don't know why. One of those mysteries of life the voices keep telling me about.
That being said, if worst comes to worst I am fully capable of handling any three, or making any five wish they hadn't. I would not use a bat. I know 10 ways to take a bat away from someone, so odds are if you have one it will be taken away from you. (Granted, after delivering much pain.) Therefore you are better off, when fighting hand to hand, to fight with...(drumroll) your hands.