Walk Softly and Carry a Big...Baseball Bat?

This one gave me a chuckle--the Photo of the Day on the White House website. The caption reads

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey in the Oval Office, July 30, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

I'm prepared to overlook the somewhat disturbing image of the leader of the free world using one of those old-fashioned phones with the twisty cords: it doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence in the American economy to know that there isn't enough coin in White House coffers to spring for an updated, cordless model. But what's the deal with the baseball bat?