go to bat

Definitions

1. 1

   To be the individual or team that is currently batting

   To be the individual or team that is currently batting; to play offense.

   • Robinson went to bat for the last time that day in the eighth inning, singling for his fourth straight hit.
2. 2

   To be aggressive, to be assertive, to actively pursue a goal or action.

   • Barb, you have to hang in there kid. […] Two more weeks, maybe three, and we go to bat, Barb.
3. 3

   To champion, to actively assist, to provide support (for someone).

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

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