Bandit: A lower cost alternative might be to find solid aluminum bar stock between .75-1.0 inches in diameter--one of those will be the right weight for you, limited maintenance, & plenty strong. In my neck of the woods (the VERY overpriced SF Bay Area), 3 feet of such stock cut to length runs about $15.
Run some 0000 steel wool with oil on it to get the thing nominally shiny w/minimal scratching--about a 2-5 minute job. Add a crutch tip & improvise a "top" & you should be good to go. I'm still looking for a top for mine, among other projects.
BTW, if you're going to block a baseball bat or other club, move into the attacker, reducing the amount of force you'll receive. The best advice I've ever seen printed on this is in Marc MacYoung's "Taking it to the Street": 'If you face a linear kick, get off the line. If you face a circular kick, complete the circle.' Read "attack" for "kick" and you can save yourself a lot of wear & tear.