Go batty with the Left 4 Dead 2 pre-order bonus

Valve is offering a number of enticing pre-order offers for their upcoming zombicidal action title, Left 4 Dead 2. For the impatient among us, dropping a reservation on the game garners early access to the demo (which is set to drop October 27). For the thrifty among us, pre-ordering the game through Steam (or other participating digital distributors), knocks 10 percent off the total price of the game.

However, for the truly patriotic among us, Valve is offering a singularly thrilling bonus: An in-game "American baseball bat." We've contacted Valve to find out exactly what this means -- is pre-ordering the game really the only way to get our hands on this implement of the Great American Pastime? Or is it just a special "American" skin for the bat, which was previously confirmed to be one of the title's brand new melee weapons? We hope it's the latter, if only so we can sing "Courtesy of the Red, White And Blue" during our undead massacres.