Question

How does the alien with the baseball bat contribute to the effectiveness of the political cartoon?

It suggests that aliens are like people because they play baseball, a human sport.
It uses humor to show that unknown factors keep damaging the probes humans send.
It shows how to cope with the surface of Mars, which is rocky and full of craters.
It exaggerates the size of the bat in relation to the Mars probe in the cartoon.

Answer 1

It uses humor/personification to show that unknown or unexpected forces keep damaging the probes humans send (option 2).