go to bat

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

go to bat (third-person singular simple present goes to bat, present participle going to bat, simple past went to bat, past participle gone to bat)

1. (baseball) Be the individual or team that is currently batting; play offense.
   • 1875 June, University of Michigan, “Various Topics”, in The Chronicle, page 201:

     Turner hit to short right and took his first, and then his second by a wild throw of Winslow, but was trapped between second and third and put out by Stearns. Detroit thus retired without recording a tally, and the University again went to bat.

   • 1968 December, A.S. Young, “Jackie Opens the Door — Wide!”, in Ebony, page 136:

     Robinson went to bat for the last time that day in the eighth inning, singling for his fourth straight hit.

2. (figurative) Be aggressive, be assertive, actively pursue a goal or action.
   • 1980, Jack Horner, My Own Brand, page 96:

     The fastest way to destroy one's credibility in Ottawa or anywhere else is to go to bat over something frivolous. I recall Dan McKenzie (Winnipeg South Centre) coming to see me with an article he'd picked up that said metrification would result in a ten-hour day. He even had a picture of the new clock.

   • 1995, Tom Clancy, Debt of Honor, page 249:

     Barb, you have to hang in there kid. […] Two more weeks, maybe three, and we go to bat, Barb.

3. (idiomatic, usually with for) Champion, actively assist, provide support (for someone).
   • 1955, Edwin Strickland, Gene Wortsman, Phenix City, page 172:

     If he had been guided along the path of righteousness and worked hard for honest people, “Ashie” would have been a good man. But he was, indeed, a victim of circumstances in that he went to bat for the wrong side.

   • 1968, Maneck Wadia, Management and the Behavioral Sciences, page 187:

     Among foremen who often “go to bat” for their men, encouraging efficiency brings an improvement in group production norms