# The Physics of "Lucille" (from "The Walking Dead" -- Negan's bat)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 24, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601 "2016-10-24T16:56:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/1 "2016-10-24T16:56:49Z")
Last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” featured an assault with a barbwire-covered bat :
[http://www.toyhypeusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/McFarlane-Toys-The-Walking-Dead-Negans-Bat-Lucille-Replica-800x500\_c.jpg](http://www.toyhypeusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/McFarlane-Toys-The-Walking-Dead-Negans-Bat-Lucille-Replica-800x500_c.jpg)
If I recall correctly, the assaulted character took two hits from this thing, and was somehow still conscious enough to attempt to speak. Gurgled, but just barely legible.
Is that possible? I would have thought that two solid whacks would leave someone unconscious.
Also, after several more whacks, the guy’s skull / brain was utterly pulped. Is that realistic? Could you smash a person’s skull with a baseball bat, or would it break after multiple impacts? (I know that a mace would certainly do it, but those things have solid metal heads.)
Just wonderin’…
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/2 "2016-10-24T17:10:13Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#):
>
> Also, after several more whacks, the guy’s skull / brain was utterly pulped. Is that realistic? Could you smash a person’s skull with a baseball bat, or would it break after multiple impacts? (I know that a mace would certainly do it, but those things have solid metal heads.)
Are you under the impression that bats are hollow?
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### Author:  [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/3 "2016-10-24T17:45:22Z")
> [@Grey](#):
>
> Are you under the impression that bats are hollow?
Not at all! I’m just wondering how sturdy a wooden bat would be. Supposedly the guy uses “Lucille” on a regular basis to smash people’s heads. Wouldn’t it eventually crack?
Maybe not, I dunno. But I do remember guys complaining that wooden bats were not as durable as they would like; and these fellows were just using them against softballs and baseballs (I’m hoping).
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### Author:  [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/4 "2016-10-24T18:23:14Z")
Not going to crack on someone’s head unless it was already compromised. As in already partially cracked (the bat, not the head).
Pro ball players use bats with thinner than average handles, so you see them break all the time. But the bats you can buy at your local sports goods store are pretty robust. I have a “Daryl Strawberry” model bat leaning in the corner that could cave in a skull if ever needed it to.
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### Author:  [@vtxrider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vtxrider)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/5 "2016-10-24T18:42:27Z")
Also, I am pretty sure most of the bats that break are due to being contacted on the thinner handle area by a high speed pitch.
I would imagine that a good bat would definitely crack the skull (they are pretty fragile after all) and once it is cracked, it would offer little resistance.
As long as he was not smacking it against brick walls, or metal polls, I am guessing that it would hold up quite well.
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/6 "2016-10-24T18:45:40Z")
Would wrapping it tightly in barbed wire keep the bat together and make it more durable, or would barbs poking into the wood potentially compromise the structural integrity of the bat?
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### Author:  [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/7 "2016-10-24T19:00:39Z")
Does the barb wire even make a difference to the destruction the bat does to a head?
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### Author:  [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/8 "2016-10-24T19:25:35Z")
The bat is less of a killing weapon (the assault rifle Neegan has does that job), it’s more for intimidation. The barbed wire sure helps with that.
It might also make a glancing blow more dangerous.
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### Author:  [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/9 "2016-10-24T19:31:20Z")
> [@Atamasama](#):
>
> The bat is less of a killing weapon (the assault rifle Neegan has does that job), it’s more for intimidation. The barbed wire sure helps with that.
>
> It might also make a glancing blow more dangerous.
Good point!
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/10 "2016-10-24T19:43:33Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Quoth **Atamasama** :
>
> Would wrapping it tightly in barbed wire keep the bat together and make it more durable, or would barbs poking into the wood potentially compromise the structural integrity of the bat?
Both, but the reinforcement effect would probably be more significant. Wood’s primary failure mode is splitting, and wire wrapping would make that very difficult. And most barbs are probably pointing out, and even those that are in won’t penetrate very far.
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### Author:  [@Goalie8401](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goalie8401)
#### Post date: [October 24, 2016, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/11 "2016-10-24T20:53:42Z")
You have to keep in mind the breaking point of most bats is near the handle after poor contact with a baseball thrown 85+ MPH. It’s tendency to break also depends on the type of wood used. The heavier the wood the less likely it is to splinter or crack. As Chronos said above, the barbed wire would help to reduce the possibility of splitting. All in all, yeah, Neagan could have bashed their heads in without breaking his bat. Cheers 😃
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### Author:  [@Vicsage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicsage)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2016, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/12 "2016-10-25T03:40:06Z")
But barbed wire makes it harder to clean. Maybe Negan should make Rick clean it.
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### Author:  [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)
#### Post date: [October 25, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-physics-of-lucille-from-the-walking-dead-negans-bat/769601/13 "2016-10-25T10:36:03Z")
All baseball bats used to be made of ash. Then in the 2000s there was a switch to maple. This is the cause of so many broken bats where one sharp part goes flying nobody knows in which direction. Have to figure out which type Negen is using. Anyway, he appears to be batting 1.000.