Big Z: He iz what he iz

It was Rain Delay Theater at Wrigley Field on Sunday afternoon, with Carlos Zambrano in the lead role.

During a morning media briefing, Big Z admitted the problem with his fragile back "is I've been lazy."

Which, I guess, makes him the Big La-Z-y.

Whatever Zambrano is, it isn't what many expect the Cubs' starting pitcher to be.

The man has been controversial, to say the least; a lightning rod, some might say; a love/hate figure as much as anything.

A huge segment of the population hates the way Zambrano goes about the business of earning his five-year, $91.5 million contract.

Another huge segment of the population loves that Zambrano is emotional, pitches and swings and runs hard, and is animated on the job.

Here are the major raps against Zambrano: He doesn't work hard enough, which the "lazy" confession reinforces, and he isn't the pitching ace he is being paid to be.

But why would anybody feel let down by anything Big Z does and is?

Carlos Zambrano has been with the Cubs perpetually since 2002. He was Carlos Zambrano before he signed his current contract in 2007. He has been Carlos Zambrano since he signed it.

The man didn't work on his abdominal muscles before, so why did anybody expect him to work on them since? He was emotionally volatile before, so why did anybody expect him to be stoical now? He hadn't reached ace status before, so why was everybody so certain he would be by today?

Listen, I'm no different from most people who follow sports. I make the mistake of expecting certain athletes to be something that they weren't, aren't and likely never will be.

Take Alfonso Soriano. Cub fans are frustrated, even disgusted, because he doesn't play better left field.

Why would anybody expect more from Soriano out there? He wasn't a good outfielder before he arrived here and likely won't be whenever he departs.

You say Soriano doesn't look like he's hustling in left field, appears to be afraid of the wall and has no instincts for the position?

Heck, Soriano could have been accused of all those sins the day he signed here. It doesn't mean he isn't trying. It means he simply isn't a good outfielder, never was and never will be.

Just because the Cubs overpaid Soriano with an eight-year, $136-million contract doesn't mean he'll ever be a $136-million player.

Similarly, just because Zambrano receives about $18 million per season doesn't mean he is an $18-million ace.

Zambrano is an above-average pitcher who at a listed age of 28 is still trying to figure out who and what he can and can't do.

Because his back is acting up, Zambrano just now is figuring out what most athletes have to in their 30s: He must work out harder to keep from breaking down.

Tens of millions of dollars didn't accelerate the process.

Anyway, too many of us keep expecting athletes to be what we expect them to be - to live up to our ideal - instead of what they are.

Even more frustrating is expecting them to be what somebody agreed to pay them.

That's our fault more than it is theirs.