Paul White has taken the extraordinary step of withdrawing the entire scathing post to which I responded:

I’m sorry if this screws up any links that might be out there, but I’ve decided to remove this post. While I still believe in the substance of what I was trying to say, in retrospect it was not only poorly written, but was also done in an exceedingly inappropriate tone. My apologies to those specifically named and anyone else who may have taken offense.

I’ve essentially attempted a do-over here if you’re still interesting in this topic, or I highly recommend an article by Mark Armour over at the Baseball Analysts site, which conveys the same point far better than I have.

Gone too are the comments in the aforementioned post; White had written a response to my post apologizing for his previous tone and with a grudging cordiality, the two of us kicked the topic back and forth a couple times before arriving at an impasse. I accepted his apology there, and I do here as well. We move on.

Not to pile on White after he has admitted he was in the wrong, but I am mildly surprised by his decision to actually delete the offending post. On at least one occasion (the Schilling mess) I’ve considered taking a similar step after the hatchets were buried, only to decide that the post’s existence as part of the record was a stern reminder that I owed it to my readers and to myself to do better the next time. It would appear White’s placeholder link will provide him with a similar reminder; if so, that’s good enough from where I sit.