A four-seam fastball , also called a rising fastball , a four-seamer , or a cross-seam fastball , is a pitch in baseball . It is a member of the fastball family of pitches and is usually the fastest ball thrown by a pitcher. It is called what it is because with every rotation of the ball as it is thrown, four seams come into view. A few pitchers at the major league level can sometimes reach a pitch speed of over 100 mph. It is often compared with the two-seam fastball .
40-640: Michael Fredarick Schwimer (born February 19, 1986) is an American businessperson and former Major League Baseball (MLB) relief pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2011 and 2012. In high school, Schwimer played baseball and was 9–0 in 2004 with a 1.04 ERA while earning the 2004 Alexandria Sportsmen Player of the Year award, and being named the Virginia Independent School League Player of
80-505: A hedge fund while in college, and says that he would be working in that business if he were not a baseball player. He also played for the Virginia Cavaliers baseball team . In 2006, Schwimer set a UVA single-season record for appearances (36), as he held batters to a .212 batting average in 60.2 innings. In 2007, in 23 appearances he held batters to a .229 batting average. In the summer of 2007, he pitched 33.1 innings for
120-511: A social class in medieval Italy (compare, for example, the Vaishya , the traditional merchant caste in Indian society). Between 1300 and 1500, modern accounting, the bill of exchange , and limited liability were invented, and thus, the world saw "the first true bankers", who were certainly businesspeople. Around the same time, Europe saw the " emergence of rich merchants. " This "rise of
160-634: A .068 batting average. He was an International League mid-season All Star, and pitched in the Triple-A All-Star Game . In July, he was named the Phillies Minor League Pitcher of the Month. Schwimer was called up to the majors for the first time on August 17, 2011. He became the 29th UVA player to make it to the major leagues, joining former Cavaliers Javier López , Mark Reynolds , and Ryan Zimmerman currently in
200-560: A Major League Baseball pitcher was 92.8 mph. The spin rate of a 4 seam fastball is measured in rotations per minute (rpms) in Major League Baseball. Commonly referred to as “ Bauer Units” (slang invented by Driveline Baseball), SPV is defined as Spin Rate per Velocity. This metric allows research to compare the quality of 4 seam fastballs of different pitchers throughout Major League Baseball. Four-seam fastball
240-452: A combination of human , financial , intellectual , and physical capital to fuel economic development and growth. Since a "businessman" can mean anyone in industry or commerce , businesspeople have existed as long as industry and commerce have existed. "Commerce" can simply mean "trade", and trade has existed through all of recorded history . The first businesspeople in human history were traders or merchants . Merchants emerged as
280-411: A fastball as part of their standard repertoire. Scientific studies have shown that the four-seam and two-seam fastballs have essentially the same flight paths and speeds, but, typically, a batter perceives a difference between them. The perceived difference is due to flicker fusion threshold , which is defined as the frequency that a flashing light appears "steady" to the human eye. For example, for
320-440: A fastball that has already passed the hitting zone, and frequently, has already made the catcher's mitt. Conversely, because the four-seamer doesn't break, it is quite hittable by the quick, "good-eye" batter who can "see" where the pitch will arrive. Moreover, its extreme velocity helps experienced batters to hit it extremely hard; that is, if a batter can "square up" on it, a four-seamer pitch can be readily hit for power. Further,
360-419: A fastball's effectiveness decreases substantially if it is not accurately thrown, i.e., if the pitch is not under control. Due to its straight and level flight an errant fastball will not fool many batters as to its direction; thus, it elicits fewer swings and produces more walks when thrown outside the strike zone. As a pitcher's fastball loses "heat" (speed), more batters will have sufficient time to read and hit
400-411: A flicker rate of 80 Hz, which results in the batter not perceiving any features on the ball and having fewer visual cues than with the two-seamer to track it. Thus, the batter often perceives the four-seam fastball as faster and higher than a two-seam fastball. The velocity of a 4 seam fastball is measured in miles per hours (mph) in Major League Baseball. As of 2018, the average velocity of
440-466: A lifting force called the Magnus effect offsets the downward pull of gravity on the ball; thus a hard-thrown fastball doesn't drop as much as other types of pitches and may even appear to rise as it approaches the plate. Further, backspin combined with the steady rotation of four seams in alignment with the direction of the pitch stabilizes the ball's flight-path. A successful four-seam fastball overpowers
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#1732791897099480-493: A new kind of businessperson, the capitalist . These people owned or financed businesses as investors, but they were not merchants of goods. These capitalists were a major force in the Industrial Revolution . The Oxford English Dictionary reports the earliest known use of the word "business-men" in 1798, and of "business-man" in 1803. By 1860, the spelling "businessmen" had emerged. Merriam Webster reports
520-523: A pot with Bellande where he was all-in on the turn with an over pair against the pair and flush draw of Bellande. The two agreed to run it twice, and Schwimer won both boards and doubled to $ 299,400. Later in the episode, Schwimer made trips on the river, but ran into the full house of John Andress. On Episode 8, Schwimer lost a big pot to Damian LeForbes who made a full house on the river to beat Schwimer's trips. Schwimer rebought for $ 100,000 before he doubled through Dwan with two pair against Dwan's top pair. On
560-404: A series of flashed still-pictures to appear steady, the frequency of flashing has to be at a rate greater than the flicker fusion threshold, which for humans is about 60 Hz , or 60 cycles per second. A major league pitcher throws a baseball with a spin of around 20 rotations per second (rps). With each rotation, a four-seam fastball presents four seams crossing the vision of the batter, producing
600-531: Is 6' 8", and 240 pounds. During his playing career, he trained with former number one ranked professional tennis player Andy Roddick in the off-season. Businessperson A businessperson , also referred to as a businessman or businesswoman depending on the gender, is an individual who has founded , owns , or holds shares in (including as an angel investor ) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) to generate cash flow , sales, and revenue by using
640-404: Is a person who sets up a business or multiple businesses ( serial entrepreneur ). Entrepreneurship may be defined as the creation or extraction of economic value . It is generally thought to embrace risks beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business. Its motivation can include other values than simply economic ones. In general usage, because the distinction is not clear-cut,
680-514: The Major Leagues . Average investments are about $ 350,000. In April 2018, the company was sued by Cleveland Indians minor league catcher Francisco Mejía , who accused the company of predatory lending techniques. In September 2018, Mejía dropped the lawsuit, and apologized for his accusations. Schwimer started Jambos Picks, a tout service , back in August 2019 only to reverse the course of
720-582: The Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod Baseball League , going 2–2 with 3.51 ERA. He was named to the 2007 Jewish Sports Review All American Team. He was not drafted in the 2007 Major League Baseball draft , as he warned a number of interested teams as the draft approached the 10th round that he would not sign if drafted, because he would rather return to college for his senior year and attain his degree from UVA than sign for
760-578: The 3-point line that year, and led the team to the Sleepy Thompson Championship where he was named MVP over Roy Hibbert . Out of high school Schwimer was offered Division 1 scholarships to play football, basketball, and baseball. He was offered a full basketball scholarship to Duke and Louisville. Schwimer attended the University of Virginia (UVA), from which he graduated in 2008 with a degree in sociology. He interned for
800-468: The IronPigs. With them, he was 9–1 with a 1.88 ERA, and 10 saves. He had 86 strikeouts in 67.0 innings (averaging 11.6 strikeouts per 9 innings), giving up 50 hits and stranding 15 of 21 inherited runners. He sported an improved "nasty" change-up, better location of his low-90s-to-95-mph four-seam fastball , and his slider as he relied on deception and control for his strikeouts. He held right-handers to
840-527: The Phillies bullpen wearing a pink feather boa , dangling a pink purse, and a matching pink " Hello Kitty " backpack on his back. The backpack contains snacks for the team's relief pitchers, and team tradition calls for the most junior rookie pitcher to carry it to and from the bullpen. Schwimer made his major league debut on August 21 against the Washington Nationals . On his second pitch in
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#1732791897099880-645: The Reading Phillies, for whom he was an Eastern League Mid-Season All Star while he earned a team-leading 11 saves with a 3.60 ERA. Schwimer finished the season with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Triple-A International League , with a 1.35 ERA as he held batters to a .080 batting average with runners in scoring position. Combined, in 2010 he averaged 11.4 strikeouts per 9 innings. Schwimer began 2011 with
920-441: The Year and Second Team All-Metro at St. Stephen's and St. Agnes School . He was an Honorable Mention All-Metro pick in 2002, and was named an All-Interstate Athletic Conference selection in 2002–04. He also played high school basketball, and was a basketball All-Metro pick in 2004 and an All- IAC pick in 2003 and 2004. His senior year in high school, Schwimer averaged 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. He shot 43% from
960-402: The amount of money offered in the later rounds of the draft. In 2008, he was 3–1 with a 1.72 ERA and 14 saves as the closer for UVA. His pitching repertoire included a "lively" fastball , a late-breaking "knee-buckling" slider , and a change-up . Schwimer was drafted out of college by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 14th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft . In the minors, he
1000-503: The batter with velocity, normally zipping through the strike zone before the batter can timely commit to swing. The faster a four-seamer pitch is accurately thrown, the more effective it will be. It is very difficult for a batter to get "around on" the pitch—to quickly swing the bat around to meet the ball—because they must swing very early to "catch up" to the speedy pitch. One of the most dramatic and frequent scenes in baseball are tableaux of frustrated batters helplessly swinging "empty" on
1040-408: The batter's reaction time instead of fooling him with a pitch that breaks downward or to one side or the other. The ball is gripped with the index and middle fingers set on or across a line (cross-seam) of the "horseshoe" seam that faces outward, i.e., away from the pitcher's body. The thumb is placed directly underneath the ball; it rests on smooth leather with the base of the thumb overlaying a seam on
1080-416: The big leagues. After the call-up he said "You can't ask for a better situation than this. Coming to the best team in baseball as a 25-year-old kid, it's a dream come true." Even before he made an appearance in an official game, Schwimer appeared in the number 3 slot in a video on ESPN 's "Not Top 10 Plays" feature in late August. The video showed the 6’ 8″, 240-pounder walking across Citizens Bank Park to
1120-628: The business just five months later. He is a contributor to the ESPN show The Daily Wager . Schwimer made his debut on season 8 of High Stakes Poker on December 16, 2020. During Episode 1, Schwimer won the first six-figure pot of the new season with two-pair in a hand against Tom Dwan who had an over pair. Later in the episode, Schwimer made a straight against Bryn Kenney to win another six-figure pot. Schwimer didn't return until Episode 6 and posted another winning session after winning pots off Dwan and Jean-Robert Bellande . On Episode 7, Schwimer played
1160-474: The earliest known use of the word "businesswoman" in 1827. The newest kind of corporate executive working under a business magnate is the manager. One of the first true founders of the management profession was Robert Owen (1771–1858). He was also a business magnate in Scotland. He studied the "problems of productivity and motivation ", and was followed by Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856–1915), who
1200-448: The goal to increase productivity of the private establishments business magnates own. Salaries for businesspeople vary. The salaries of businesspeople can be as high as billions of dollars per year. For example, the owner of Microsoft , Bill Gates makes $ 4 billion per year. The high salaries which businesspeople earn have often been a source of criticism from many who believe they are paid excessively. An entrepreneur
1240-515: The major leagues, he gave up a game-tying home run to Nationals second baseman Danny Espinosa . Schwimer said: "I was thinking that it can't get much better than this. And after a few pitches, I was thinking that it can't get much worse than this." He retired the next eight batters, striking out four of them. Schwimer was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on February 23, 2013, in exchange for minor-league first baseman Art Charles. Schwimer
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1280-585: The merchant class" came as Europe "needed a middleman" for the first time, and these "burghers" or " bourgeois " were the people who played this role. Europe became the dominant global commercial power in the 16th century, and as Europeans developed new tools for business, new types of "business people" began to use those tools. In this period, Europe developed and used paper money , cheques , and joint-stock companies (and their shares of capital stock ). Developments in actuarial science and underwriting led to insurance. Together, these new tools were used by
1320-602: The penultimate hand of the episode, Schwimer would go bust when he called all-in on the river with two pair, but was up against the flopped set of Kenney. Schwimer quit the game afterwards. He was born in Fairfax, Virginia , to Dan and Cindy Schwimer, and is Jewish. Schwimer was the first Jewish player for the Phillies since Mike Lieberthal . Growing up, he attended Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Virginia, where he went to Hebrew school and had his bar mitzvah . He
1360-444: The pitch. Pitching or throwing a fastball comes naturally to most athletes who throw baseballs. The four-seam and two-seam fastballs are typically the first pitches taught to young pitchers. They requires very little unnatural motion of the arm, elbow or shoulders, and the ball comes off the fingers easily when the pitch is completed as it is intended to be thrown. The fastball is the most common of pitches, as almost all pitchers throw
1400-435: The term 'entrepreneur' may be used as a (self-)promoting euphemism for 'businessperson', or it may serve to objectively indicate particular passion and risk-taking in a business field. Still, the distinction is only one by degrees. Four-seam fastball The four-seam fastball is designed purely for velocity; it travels to the batter's box with little or no "break" from straight-line flight—the intent being to challenge
1440-452: The underside of the ball. The four-seam fastball typically is thrown with a straight overhead swing of the throwing arm. The ball leaves the thumb at the top of the throwing motion as the index and middle fingers play their grip on the "top" seam to roll it down the "back" of the ball, which imparts backspin to the ball that lasts the distance of the pitch. The backspin affects the exchange of momentum between ball and surrounding air such that
1480-551: Was a relief pitcher; primarily a closer. Schwimer averaged 12.1 strikeouts per 9 innings in his minor league career, as he was 20–10 with a 2.51 ERA, and gave up 184 hits and 79 walks, while striking out 313 batters, in 233 innings through his August 2011 call-up to the major leagues. In 2008, he had a 1.96 ERA for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Low-A New York–Penn League . On July 7, he
1520-898: Was named the NY-Penn League Pitcher of the Week. He averaged 13.5 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. Schwimer split 2009 between the Clearwater Threshers of the High-A Florida State League , for whom he had 20 saves (3rd in the league), 48 games (4th in the league), and a 2.85 ERA, and the Reading Phillies of the Double-A Eastern League , for whom he had a 1.35 ERA in 20.0 innings. Combined, in 2009 he averaged 12.4 strikeouts per 9 innings. He started 2010 with
1560-742: Was placed on the disabled list at the end of spring training (March 31) with a strained right shoulder. He was removed from the disabled list on May 10 and optioned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons . Schwimer was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on August 5. He was released on August 7. Schwimer started Big League Advance in October 2016, a company that invests in Minor League players, in exchange for an agreed-upon percentage of their future earnings should they make it to
1600-521: Was the first person who studied work with the motive to train his staff in the field of management to make them efficient managers capable of managing his business. After World War I , management became popular due to the example of Herbert Hoover and the Harvard Business School , which offered degrees in business administration (management) with the motive to develop efficient managers so that business magnates could hire them with
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