Since when did Al Gore become a member of Bud Selig’s cabinet?

In a move that would seem to indicate that Major League Baseball is counting on global warming to turn up the heat, it is moving its premier event back four days. Game 7 of the 2007 World Series would be played on Nov. 1, assuming rain, snow or extreme cold don’t delay it to Nov. 2, 3 or later.

The seventh game of the 1967 World Series between St. Louis and Boston was played on Oct. 8, in the afternoon. Two playoff rounds later, that seems quaint, doesn’t it?

As usual, the latest tinkering in the postseason schedule is a bow to network television. In its latest contract with MLB, Fox was given the right to switch the start of the World Series from Friday to Wednesday.

Instead of moving the schedule ahead two days, MLB agreed to move it back four days. That creates an abundance of down time and rest for starting pitchers, at least for this season, and is likely to be a precursor of the change of the division series format from best-of-five to best-of-seven.

Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz has long pushed to use the best-of-seven format in the first round, with many other GMs (probably a majority) in his corner. Expect them to push their bosses to make that change, as the owners’ reason for opposing it in the past was that the postseason schedule was already too long.

While MLB has set attendance records on an annual basis, its World Series ratings have declined. Fox and MLB officials want to see if they can grow those ratings by avoiding the Saturday night slot, which is not a good one for overall viewership. The new playoff schedule also reduces Friday night telecasts.

Unlike the regular season, the expanded postseason format has always de-emphasized the depth of teams, especially the starting rotation. The 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks are seen as an example of what a top-heavy starting rotation can do in October; they rode Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling to an upset over the Yankees in the World Series.

But then-manager Bob Brenly didn’t go to a three-man rotation until the World Series. The new format introduces additional days off to the first round (a travel day between Games 4 and 5) and the league championship series (a day off before Game 5 in addition to the existing one after Game 5), which might render four-man playoff rotations obsolete.

An ace could start seven of 19 games with the new schedule – three on regular rest and four on short rest. The other two starters would need to combine for three starts on short rest to keep a manager from having to use his fourth starter.

By contrast , an ace would make only five starts if a manager used a four-man rotation and kept it in order. Three of those starts would be with extra rest, including one start on seven days’ rest and another on six days’ rest.

MLB and Fox officials do not seem to care about the impact of weather issues. Their decision to prolong the postseason follows a 2006 postseason that included four rainouts and a World Series played in cold, sloppy weather in St. Louis and Detroit.

“We’ve studied it, and we don’t think four or five days is likely to make a difference at that time of year,” an MLB official said Monday. “It’s the luck of the draw. The weather might be worse, but it also might be better.”

Break out the parkas.