bottom of the ninth

bottom of the ninth

The final and critical moment or moments of a tense, important, or desperate situation. It refers to the ninth inning of baseball, the "bottom" of which is batted by the home team as their last chance to win the game. Primarily heard in US, South Africa. It came down to the bottom of the ninth, but I managed to finish my report in time for the big meeting.
See also: bottom, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • it ain't over till/until the fat lady sings
  • it ain't/it's not over till the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over till the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over till/until the fat lady sings
  • it isn't over until the fat lady sings
  • it's not over till/until the fat lady sings
  • take the Browns to the Super Bowl
  • amateur hour
  • loose ends, to be at
  • Barkis is willin'
References in periodicals archive
In the bottom of the ninth, Je'Von Ward began the inning with a single.
La Salle clinched its victory with a game-ending double play in the bottom of the ninth, erasing the bitter memory of last year's loss to Adamson in the finals.
Here's what Pirates great Bill Mazeroski was thinking when destiny beckoned as he came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series against the Yankees with the score tied, 9-9.
- Former Oregon outfielder Austin Grebeck scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Everett a 5-4 win over Eugene on Monday night in Northwest League baseball at Memorial Stadium.
UST managed to tie the game at 11-11 at the bottom of the ninth with John Pedracio and Amiel Lallano both getting to home.
In the immediate aftermath of the exciting Game Seven between the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants in 2014, the baseball world fixated on one question: should Alex Gordon have been sent home with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as his hit was being botched and booted somewhere near the left-center field wall?
Coast Guard 4, Clark 3: James Corway had a two-run single, but the Cougars (8-13, 5-6 NEWMAC) only amassed four total hits and gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth to fall to the host Bears (13-10, 6-8).
Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning to set up a three-run score courtesy of a Travis Ishikawa homerun at the bottom of the ninth as the Giants win 6-3 in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in the 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) Postseason late on Thursday.
Texas infielder Adrian Beltre hit a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Rangers over the visiting Oakland Athletics.
Norichika Aoki singled in his only at-bat Wednesday in a pinch-hit appearance in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Milwaukee Brewers' late rally fell short in a 2-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
BAD POINTS: If you don't know much about baseball, all the talk of bases, lefties and righties and 'the bottom of the ninth' will mean nothing.
Tampa Bay s triumph came just moments after the Red Sox had squandered a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth, when closer Jonathan Papelbon failed to secure victory after striking out the first two batters in the 4-3 defeat to the Orioles.
Yet Pittsburgh was victorious, taking three close games, losing big in three others, before the Pirates' second baseman hit a homer on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth to win the World Series.
Outfielder JD Drew drove in Kevin Youklis for the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, after he had also hit an eighth-inning two run-homer.
"If you can't be up to bat in the bottom of the ninth, then owning part of the team is the next best thing."