Hewitt, whose speed has been critical to his success, said retirement did briefly enter his thoughts.
One was the invention of the electronic computer, whose speed has been advantageously applied to number theoretic questions.
But it is hard to trust a pitch whose speed is not the object and whose destination is unpredictable.
It also has switch-hitters like Rollins and Shane Victorino, whose speed and power can create late problems for bullpens.
Vick will turn 33 before the 2013 season, but he remains a running threat, albeit one whose speed is declining, with a strong arm.
An explosive scorer whose speed and toughness make him a target of N.B.A. interest, Waiters provided the offense that Joseph and Jardine could not generate.
The fastest bird, however, is the peregrine falcon, whose speed in a dive has been measured in excess of 320 km/hr (200 mph).
They have a firm hold on the jerking, juddering movement vocabulary, which at times causes the dance to look like a film whose speed has been altered erratically.
"I've only seen two guys in baseball whose speed changes the way teams play defense, and that's Bo Jackson and Ichiro Suzuki," Bavasi said.
Alongside him, and equally coveted by the world's richest clubs, is Gareth Bale, a Welsh wing whose speed and tenacity can transform tied games into victories.
In the financial markets we already see the use of autonomous computer programs whose speed and power can overwhelm a whole economy in minutes.
