Let’s say a carpenter comes over to your house and builds you a fantastic set of bookshelves. It’s everything you ever wanted and while he’s quiet about it, and doesn’t really talk, and it was really expensive you’re happy. Later you find out that he was so pissed off at the guy at the lumberyard that he almost refused to come over to your place and build the bookshelves. He had to be talked into it.

Let me ask you; are you outraged? Is he an embarrasment to carpenters everywhere? Does it destroy your enjoyment of your bookshelf? Does it matter?

I say Manny’s doing his job and he’s not out giving the fans the finger. He works hard and stays out of trouble (with the law). Why is this so bad?

He reached by error for those two non hits in Friday’s day game. Maybe you read the box score.

The following was an exchnage between the Globe’s Gordon Edes and a reader during an online chat Wednesday:

Manny_s_Hamstring
Hi G. I love when you take questions but I am curious. Do you think that I am a convenient injury for a struggling team or am I legit? Many say Manny doesn’t care about the game but did you see his reaction in the 9th inning last night on a close call at 1st base?

Gordon_Edes
Hammy, I ran into a veteran player at the team hotel last night, and he insisted that Manny was hurting, the injury was legit, and that Manny was worn down from chasing all those balls launched all over left field by the Bombers last weekend. Manny’s 34 now, remember. The whole team is exhausted right now, including Papi. What’s troubling, I think, to many folks is that while Mark Loretta stayed for hours after the game Sunday night, into the wee hours of the morning, receiving treatment so that he could play the next day, Manny did not. I found it interesting that Terry Francona said last night that Manny would probably play today, rather than hedging and saying it depended on what the medical people said. Obviously, the Sox could have used him last night

Do they pass out prejudice pills to Boston sports writers? Is that how it works? Or does the ghost of Dave Egan come round to whisper sweet poisons in your ear?

Why don’t you get on the backs of all the players who have performed like crap since the AS break and who disappeared entirely over the last weekend? Like Gabe (1 for 29) Kapler and Coco (1 for 19) Crisp? Like the entire pitching staff outside of Schilling, Wells, Foulke and Papelbon?

Manny hasn’t had a day off in a long time. He spent the weekend chasing Yankee line drives all over the outfield for three days and nights and had to run the bases 19 times out of 20 because the Yankee pitchers just simply could not get him out. He’s had a history of hamstring and knee issues for his entire career, sometimes costing him weeks at a time. And McAdam jumps the gun, makes assumptions all over the place, and tries to pin the weekend Red Sox collapse on Manny! And you back up his crap!

Then, you have the temerity to try and interpret Manny’s routine at the plate. You pissante! The guy’s one of the greatest hitters of all time. He works his ass off to be that way. He’s achieved a level of excellence that you and I and everyone on this blog can only dream about. The guy’s never unfocused during an atbat. He doesn’t stare off into space. He always looks in the same direction every time which probably means he’s picking a spot (possibly the left field foul pole) to adjust his vision before each pitch. The guy’s a finely tuned hitting machine. Manny is amazingly focused as a hitter. It’s a thrill to watch his atbats.

You’re way out of line here, Seth. What is it about Boston mediots who feel compelled to attack the best Sox ballplayers? They did it to Teddy Ballgame. They did it to Jim Rice. They did it to Nomar. And now it’s Manny. You don’t want your name to be mentioned along with Dave Egan’s and Dan Shaughnessy’s. That’s lousy company to keep. Get out while you still can.