Are Cubs seeing the light on stats?

This space has been the toughest in Chicago on the Cubs' approach to baseball statistics and the science of "sabermetrics."

But during Wednesday's teleconference with reporters, general manager Jim Hendry mentioned that his newest acquisition, Kosuke Fukudome, brings a high on-base percentage.

Don't look now, but the Cubs have Fukudome, Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Mark DeRosa and Matt Murton as players with good on-base percentages. In their press release, the Cubs also cited Fukudome's OPS, or the combination of on-base and slugging percentages.

As Larry David often says on his hit TV show: "That's pretty… pretty… pretty… good."

The name of that show is "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and that's what we'll do until Hendry starts throwing around terms such as VORP, WARP and equivalent average.

When I asked if Fukudome's signing is recognition that on-base percentage indeed is important to an offense, Hendry replied:

"We value it more than people would think. Of course, it's important, but it doesn't turn you away from marquee players who play other parts of the game at a high level that might not have a high on-base percentage at times.

"We've talked about this many times. Statistics can be skewed in many ways. We certainly factor them into all of our decisions. We just happened to find the perfect guy that fit the spot that we needed that adds tremendous versatility in all areas of the game. You know how it is. The next thing you know, we'll be reading about he doesn't have enough power in right field and should have more power."

Like I said, we'll curb our enthusiasm.

But give the Cubs credit for a step in the right direction.