Can a baseball be hit farther with a heavy bat or a light one?

Several replys here have confused elasticity and what one might call stretchiness or flexibility.

An elastic interaction is one in which energy is conserved. E.g. a super ball that bounces to the same height it was dropped from.

Cork and loose strings may make a bat/tennis racket more flexible or stretch the strings for a longer duration but it does not make it more elastic. Indeed, the tighter the strings and the less cork the more elastic the interaction.

By the way, you physics types might enjoy the ant vision thread elsewhere on this bullitan board:

see SDMB: “how far can ants see”
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=44731