July 6, 1988:"Hypodermics On the Shore"

July 6, 1988: The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area, including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus, washes ashore on Long Island.

Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island, Brooklyn and in Monmouth County, New Jersey forced the closure of numerous area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers on record in the American Northeast. New England was also hit hard by this phenomenon.

Dumping dirty needles into the ocean was typical of how people treated the seas before the environmental movement, discouraged into dormancy by the Presidency of Ronald Reagan, got going again after the old bastard left office.

It got so bad, Long Islander Billy Joel worked it into his song "We Didn't Start the Fire": "Hypodermics on the shore." In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1990, following the successful revolutions in Eastern Europe and the failed one in China, he said, "I almost added, 'Poison apples in the store,' because that whole 'Alar' thing was happening. Then Tienanmen Square happened, and it became 'China's under martial law.' Think what I'd have to write about Eastern Europe now."

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July 6, 1988 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Texas Rangers, 4-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jeff Russell outpitched Ron Guidry, who was nearing the end of the line. Pete Incaviglia hit a home run for the Rangers. For the Yankees, Dave Winfield went 2-for-4 with a walk. Don Mattingly went 3-for-5. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 at Shea Stadium. Ron Darling was the winning pitcher. Darryl Strawberry hit a home run.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Chili Davis hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals, 4-2 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. Robin Yount went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4 with a walk. George Brett went 1-for-4.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 2-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Former Cub Rick Reuschel pitched 8 innings of 6-hit shutout ball, but needed Craig Lefferts and Scott Garrelts to finish the 7-hit shutout.

It was the 176th out of the 218 wins Reuschel would have in his career, that began in 1972. The losing pitcher was Jamie Moyer, who then had 24 of the 269 wins he would have in his career, that ended in 2012, 50 years after Reuschel's began.

* And, despite playing each other at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego both the day before and the day after, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres did not play. Baseball-Reference.com gives no explanation, nor suggests that a game was postponed and made up later in the year.