So it's assault if the batter uses the bat...

[Cloud]

wait! no, I'm not a lawyer, I'm a paralegal. I've studied some criminal law, but don't construe it as legal advice.

However, the statement, "that is generally true, but not always" is essentially meaningless. It's true of itself--that's a tautology, isn't it?

I'm sure there are exceptions. You can have assault and battery, which is what happens if someone comes up to you, threatens you, and actually causes you injury. I have no idea what the legal consequence of the whole baseball paradigm would be though. And even if I did, I wouldn't say. Cause I'm not a lawyer, yay!