April 15, 1980: The Mariel Boatlift Begins

April 15, 1980: The Mariel Boatlift begins. After 10,000 Cubans tried to gain asylum by taking refuge on the grounds of the Peruvian embassy, the Cuban government announced that anyone who wanted to leave could do so. The ensuing mass migration was organized by Cuban Americans, with the agreement of Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The arrival of the refugees in the United States created political problems for President Jimmy Carter. His Administration struggled to develop a consistent response to the immigrants, and many of the refugees had been released from jails and mental health facilities in Cuba, as would be emphasized by the 1983 remake of the film Scarface.

The Mariel boatlift was ended by mutual agreement between the two governments in late October 1980. By then, as many as 125,000 Cubans had reached Florida.

In 1976, Carter got 52 percent of the vote in Florida. Since then, the Democratic nominee for President has gotten 38, 34, 38, 39, 48 (Bill Clinton in 1996), 48, 47, 51 (Barack Obama in 2008), 50 (Obama in 2012), 48, 48 and 43.

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April 15, 1980 was a Tuesday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Chet Lemon singled Harry Chappas home with the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning. Rich Wortham was the winning pitcher, in relief of Steve Trout. Jim Kaat was the losing pitcher, in relief of Ron Guidry. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. Steve Rogers outpitched Craig Swan. Warren Cromartie hit 2 home runs for the Expos, while Jerry Morales hit one for the Mets.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-2 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Rick Dempsey and Ken Singleton hit home runs for the O's, George Brett for the Royals.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-3 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench went 0-for-4. Willie McCovey, in his final season, went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Keith Hernandez went 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4. Pete Rose went 0-for-4.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jon Matlack pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Houston Astros beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The San Diego Padres beat their arch-rivals, Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-5 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Rick Wise beat Rick Sutcliffe. For the Padres, Gene Tenace hit a home run. For the Dodgers, Rudy Law went 4-for-5.

* The California Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-1 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Frank Tanana outpitched Jerry Koosman. Rod Carew went 1-for-4 with an RBI against his former team.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 12-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rookie Rickey Henderson went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* And the Boston Red Sox, the Detroit Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates were not scheduled.

Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were in progress, but no games were scheduled. There were 3 games in the NBA Playoffs:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 105-100 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 126-101 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.

* And the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 108-97 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.