go to bat for

Idioms  

1. Take the side of, support, defend. For example, Dad will always go to bat for his kids. This term originated in baseball, where it means simply substituting for another batter, but it is the idea of helping one's team in this way that has been transferred to more general use. [Slang; early 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

go to bat for

Most job seekers don’t have someone like Fife to go to bat for them—not until they get through an initial screening, anyway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025

Yes, Philadelphians and Pennsylvanians will almost always go to bat for one their own—one of the big upsides for Harris if she chose Shapiro.

From Slate ● Aug. 6, 2024

You were very experienced before taking over “Tonight,” but Lorne Michaels still had to go to bat for you.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2024

And by early 2022, Ms. Greene had begun to believe that Mr. McCarthy was willing to go to bat for her.

From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2023

“But if you want someone to go to bat for you, she’s the one.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel