Manny Ramirez has parted ways with the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, the team confirmed Wednesday.

There has been speculation that Ramirez might be preparing to join a team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. A report from Japan earlier this week indicated the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan’s Pacific League had expressed interest in the former Red Sox star.

The Rhinos only noted in a press release announcing his departure that Ramirez was getting homesick.

In 49 games (182 at-bats) in the CPBL, the 41-year-old Ramirez hit .352/.422/.555 with eight home runs and 43 RBIs.

Boston College football coach Steve Addazio, Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly and Red Sox manager John Farrell participated in the Positive Coaching Alliance charity event Tuesday at Fenway Park.

Red Sox manager John Farrell, Notre Dame football coach (and Boston-area native) Brian Kelly, new Boston College football coach Steve Addazio and WNBA Connecticut Sun coach Anne Donovan joined up for the second annual Coffee with the Coaches breakfast and panel discussion Tuesday morning at Fenway Park’s State Street Pavilion that raised $95,000 for the Boston chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance.

WEEI afternoon co-hosts Michael Holley and Mike Salk moderated the discussion.

Madison Park High School football coach Roosevelt Robinson received the PCA’s Double-Goal Coach Award for striving to win while also pursuing the important goal of teaching life lessons through sports.

“I was so proud to, once again, join this group of accomplished sports leaders for our second annual fundraiser,” PCA founder Jim Thompson said. “Their advice and opinions are priceless assets in the development of our young players and teams. PCA deeply values this devotion to educating and inspiring young athletes in Boston and beyond.”

Welcome to Wednesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WEDNESDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
Stanley Cup finals: Blackhawks at Bruins, 8 p.m. (NBC)
MLB: Rays at Red Sox, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Orioles at Tigers, 1 p.m. (MLB Network)
MLB: Dodgers at Yankees, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
College baseball: Oregon State vs. Indiana, 8 p.m. (ESPN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Kevin Youkilis

♦ Yankees general manager Brian Cashman‘s lack of optimism a day earlier proved justified, as on Tuesday the team announced that Kevin Youkilis will need back surgery and is expected to miss at least 10-12 weeks, and Mark Teixeira returned to the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his right wrist.

Youkilis, who visited a back specialist in California on Monday, was diagnosed with a herniated disk. He is scheduled to have surgery Thursday.

“It doesn’t look like he will be a player for us until late September,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Youkilis is hitting .219/.305/.343 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 28 games for the Yankees.

“It’s not how you draw it up, there’s no doubt about that,” Cashman said. “He looked great in the spring. We had high hopes. He obviously did so much for Boston over the years and he’s the type of player that if you could draw it up, that’s the type of player we would want: a gamer with power and plate discipline.”

Teixeira missed the season’s first 53 games with a torn sheath in his right wrist, which he injured warming up for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He was activated on May 31 and had a strong start but slumped of late (3-for-31 in his last nine games). In 15 games, he’s hitting .151/.270/.340 with three home runs and 12 RBIs.

♦ The Miami New Times has the detailed story of Porter Fischer, the man who blew the whistle on the Biogenesis Major League Baseball PED scandal.

Fischer, a former Biogenesis employee who took record that appear to verify the relationship between Biogenesis and players including Alex Rodriguez, explained that he wanted to get back at clinic owner Tony Bosch for allegedly cheating him out of what he had been promised.

Fischer said his experience with MLB investigators was not positive, as they failed to protect him or push for harsher penalties against Bosch.

“The people running Major League Baseball are the biggest scumbags on Earth as far as I’m concerned,” Fischer said. “At this point, every bad guy out there knows exactly who I am. Why shouldn’t everyone else know the story, too?”

Fischer also claimed that Rodriguez had Bosch fly out to Detroit during last year’s American League Championship Series to see if Bosch could help A-Rod break out of his slump.

♦ Former Saints safety Steve Gleason, who has been battling ALS, accepted the apologies from the three Atlanta morning radio hosts who were fired for mocking him and his disease in an ill-conceived bit Monday morning.

Gleason wrote a message on the Facebook page for Team Gleason, his nonprofit organization that helps people with ALS:

“Defend Team Gleason” now has been officially redefined. Additionally, the DJs have provided genuine apology. Received and accepted. We have all made mistakes in this life. How we learn from our mistakes is the measure of who we are.

I think everyone can learn from this event. Its clear to me that, on a national & global scale, ALS is not understood, which is part of why its under funded and largely ignored. In the past 36 hours lots of people have been talking. Lets talk about this… There are zero treatments for ALS. If you take any action as a result of this event, I prefer it to be action to end ALS.

Gleason has lost the ability to speak, move and eat. He uses a computer that allows him to write by using his eyes.

Nick Cellini, Steak Shapiro and Chris Dimino lost their jobs at 790 The Zone following the public outcry over their insensitive skit. All three apologized Monday evening on Twitter.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On June 19, 1970, which Red Sox pitcher had a no-hitter against the Yankees going into the ninth inning before surrendering four runs until Sparky Lyle came on in relief to finish off the 5-4 victory?

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We’ve got a really good team here, and the sign of a good team is guys picking each other up. [Daniel] Nava‘s at-bat and [Jonny Gomes'] swing obviously got us the win and ultimately that’s what matters. I’ve got to figure out what I’m going through, but these guys are grinding every day and we’ll get through it.” – Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey, who gave up the tying run in the ninth inning Tuesday night only to see Gomes hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the inning for a 3-1 victory over the Rays

STAT OF THE DAY: 30 – Points for Tim Duncan in the Spurs’ overtime loss to the Heat in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night — although he had no points after the third quarter

‘NET RESULTS (mobile users, check the website to see the videos): The LeBron James flopping parodies continue.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Sonny Siebert

SOOTHING SOUNDS: Paula Abdul was born on this day in 1962.

Welcome to Tuesday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

TUESDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NBA Finals: Spurs at Heat, 9 p.m. (ABC; WEEI-AM)
MLB: Rays at Red Sox, Game 1, 1:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Rays at Red Sox, Game 2, 7:10 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Dodgers at Yankees, 7:05 p.m. (MLB Network)
College baseball: World Series, Louisville vs. Oregon State, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
College baseball: World Series, Mississippi State vs. Indiana, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
Soccer: World Cup qualifier, Honduras vs. United States, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

AROUND THE WEB:

It’s been a frustrating and painful year for Kevin Youkilis in New York. (AP)

♦ Yankees third baseman Kevin Youkilis, who went on the disabled list Friday with a lumbar strain after playing all 18 innings of Thursday’s loss to the Athletics and waking up the following morning with numbness in his foot and calf, visited a back specialist on Monday, and general manager Brian Cashman was not optimistic.

“Back issues usually don’t get better,” Cashman said in a conference call. “They can, but they’re very debilitating and hard to get a handle on. It’s definitely a concern. As of right now, I’m not planning on him until they tell me I can plan on him.”

Added Cashman: “I just know he’s not the player that he can be because of the back right now. Are we going to be in a position to get that player back at some point throughout this season? It would be nice, but I just don’t know what the issue is and what’s possible.”

Youkilis, who spent eight-plus seasons in Boston before a 2012 trade to the White Sox, is hitting .219/.305/.343 with two home runs and eight RBIs in 28 games for the Yankees.

Meanwhile, Mark Teixeira, who missed the first two months of the season with a torn tendon sheath in his wrist, appears headed back to the disabled list after having a cortisone injection Sunday.

Teixeira is hitting .151/.270/.340 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 15 games since returning. He was just 3-for-31 in his last nine games before sitting with weakness in his wrist.

“I’m leaning personally toward the disabled list there,” said Cashman, who added that he had not ruled out season-ending surgery.

♦ The hosts of a morning show on Atlanta sports radio station 790 The Zone were fired Monday after making fun of former Saints safety Steve Gleason, who is battling ALS.

In the offending skit, two hosts took a call from the third, who was pretending to be Gleason by using a voice that sound like it was computer-generated (Gleason has lost the ability to speak). The man portraying Gleason told some jokes then asked the hosts to “smother me, do me a favor.”

The three personalities — Nick Cellini, Steak Shapiro and Chris Dimino — apologized on Twitter Monday evening. They initially were suspended, but following a barrage of complaints, they were fired.

“We suspended the three individuals involved immediately following their comments and have since terminated their employment,” the station said in a statement. “790 The Zone, our owners, sponsors and partners in no way endorse or support this kind of content. We sincerely apologize to Mr. Gleason, his family and all those touched by ALS.”

♦ HBO confirmed Monday that the Bengals will be featured in this season’s “Hard Knocks” documentary. It’s the second appearance in five years for the Bengals, who were selected in 2009, before they won the AFC North.

“Hard Knocks” will have five episodes on Tuesday nights, from Aug. 6 through Sept. 3.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On June 18, 1953, the Red Sox scored 17 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a 23-3 victory over the Tigers. Which Sox outfielder had three hits in the inning?

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Welcome to Monday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

MONDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
Stanley Cup finals: Blackhawks at Bruins, 8 p.m. (NBCSN)
MLB: Cubs at Cardinals, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
College baseball: World Series, Louisville vs. Oregon State, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)
College baseball: World Series, Mississippi State vs. Indiana, 8 p.m. (ESPN2)

AROUND THE WEB:

Former Bengals teammates Chad Johnson (left) and Terrell Owens reunited Saturday when Owens visited Johnson in a Florida jail. (AP)

♦ Former Patriots receiver Chad Johnson, who has a hearing scheduled for Monday with Judge Kathleen McHugh to reconsider his 30-day jail sentence for a probation violation, had a jailhouse visitor Saturday: onetime Bengals teammate Terrell Owens.

Owens, no stranger to controversy himself, tweeted about his visit, writing: Just visited the homie @ochocinco. He’s in good spirits, he needs a haircut already tho. Lol. He sends his best regards to everyone.

Added Owens: I really didn’t know what to expect but to see the homie locked up is a very humbling experience, to talk to him via vid conference let me know that’s not where anyone wants to be. I know he’s only in the county jail but to someone that has never been locked up…Jail is Jail!

Johnson was supposed to avoid jail time, but his lack of seriousness during a court appearance last week — specifically a pat on the rear end of his attorney — led McHugh to admonish him, reject his plea bargain and sentence him to 30 days behind bars. Attorney Adam Swickle is pushing for Johnson’s sentence to be reconsidered.

♦ The Athletics and Mariners were forced to evacuate their locker rooms at Oakland’s O.co Coliseum after raw sewage rose up from the shower drains following Sunday’s game. The teams went to an upper-level locker room used by the Raiders to share the showers there.

The A’s lease at O.co Coliseum expires at the end of the season. The stadium, which was built in 1966, has been the team’s home since the franchise moved to Oakland in 1968. There have been problems before, but not to this extent.

“It’s clear, right?,” team president Michael Crowley said when asked about the need for a new stadium. “This isn’t the first time this has happened.”

♦ Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons. The Texas A&M quarterback expressed his frustration with an unidentified situation when he tweeted early Sunday morning: [Expletive] like tonight is a reason why I can’t wait to leave college station…whenever it may be

After deleting the tweet, Manziel sent another that read: Don’t ever forget that I love A&M with all of my heart, but please please walk a day in my shoes

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On June 17, 1943, which future Hall of Famer slugged pinch-hit home runs in both games of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns?

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Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

FRIDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Red Sox at Orioles, 7:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
MLB: Giants at Braves, 7:30 p.m. (MLB Network)
Golf: U.S. Open, 8:30 a.m. (ESPN), 3 p.m. (NBC), 5 p.m. (ESPN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Rescue workers and investigators search through the wreckage of a Miami restaurant deck collapse. (AP)

♦ More than two dozen fans watching Thursday night’s Game 4 of the Heat-Spurs NBA Finals on a Miami restaurant television were injured Thursday night when a waterfront patio deck collapsed, spilling them into the shallow water of Biscayne Bay a few feet below.

According to a fire official, approximately 100 people were on the deck at Shuckers Bar & Grill in North Bay when the accident happened just before halftime. A waitress said fans had just gotten to their feet to cheer a Heat basket.

“There was just a crack, and then we were in the water,” 23-year-old Crystal Infante, who was eating with a friend, told the Miami Herald. “It was really hard to get out, and you couldn’t find anyone.”

Infante said people could stand in the water, but they struggled to get out because of the wood, umbrellas, tables, chairs and other debris around them.

Said Chris Volz, who was watching from the bar, about 10 feet from where the deck gave way: “Everybody’s watching the game. It sounded like a freight train, then everyone was gone. The deck went down like a V.”

♦ Bryan Stow, the Giants fan who was beaten outside Dodger Stadium after a game on Opening Day in 2011, returned home after spending the last year at a rehab facility. The family said Stow’s insurance would no longer pay for the facility, so he will be tended to at home by his parents and home nurses.

“Bryan requires 24-hour nursing care, but this is not covered by insurance,” Stow’s family wrote on its website. “So we had to hire care-givers in order to help Bryan to get up and showered in the morning, and get dressed and in bed in the evening.”

The family said that while Stow appears to be improving, he continues to have issues with memory recall, pain and stiffness, and the move has caused him to experience a physical setback.

“We do what we can at home, but he needs the five days a week that he grew accustomed to,” the family wrote. “We just don’t know how to get that for him.”

♦ The commissioner of the Nippon Professional Baseball league apologized Friday for introducing a juiced baseball this season without notifying the players and previously denying the change.

“I’ve caused a lot of trouble for the fans, players and people connected to the game,” said Ryozo Kato, a former Japanese ambassador to the United States, who said he would not resign as commissioner. “Baseball is very important in Japan’s sports culture, and I have to carefully reflect on my responsibility to the game.”

The league is on pace for a season total of 1,297 home runs this season, well more than the 881 hit last year.

As to why the league previously denied making changes to the baseball, NPB secretary general Kunio Shimoda explained: “Our understanding was that it would be a matter of fine-tuning. We thought it would cause confusion if we let it be known.”

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On June 14, 1974, the Angels beat the Red Sox, 4-3, in a 15-inning game in Anaheim. The story of the day was Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan striking out 19 Red Sox (and walking 10) before leaving after the 13th. Which Red Sox pitcher went all 15 innings and was the hard-luck loser?

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Willis McGahee

This spring, Willis McGahee decided to skip the Broncos’ OTAs.

Now, he’s out of a job.

The Broncos released the 31-year-old running back Thursday, two days after he did show up to the team’s camp, according to multiple reports. McGahee was set to make $2.5 million this season after missing the last two months last year with a torn medial collateral ligament and fractured leg.

McGahee, a nine-year NFL veteran, spent the last two seasons in Denver and led the Broncos in rushing yards (731) and yards per game (73.1) despite his injuries.

“It’s never easy to part ways with a veteran player who made so many positive contributions to our team and community,” John Elway, Broncos executive vice president, said in a statement. “I appreciate all of the competitiveness, toughness and leadership Willis brought to the Broncos. He was an integral part of our team’s turnaround during the past two seasons, and I wish him the best as he continues his NFL career.”

In April’s NFL draft, the Broncos selected running back Montee Ball in the second round (58th overall).

Mark Streit

Less than a month away from free agency, defenseman Mark Streit may already have a new home.

The Islanders traded their captain and highest-scoring blueliner to the Flyers on Wednesday, getting minor league forward Shane Harper and a 2014 fourth-round draft pick in return.

Streit is set to become an unrestricted free agent July 5 and is hopeful to get a deal done with his new team before then.

“Maybe they need a few days or weeks, but I’m pretty positive. It’d be awesome to play for the Flyers,” Streit said. “The future is bright. They were in the [Stanley] Cup finals three years ago and there is so much skill and a great mix between veteran players and young players, so I’m pretty confident.”

Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said the organization felt similarly.

“Mark is a player we would have had interest in on July 5th,” he said in a statement. “We now have exclusive negotiating rights and we are hopeful that we can get an agreement in place prior to him becoming an unrestricted free agent.”

The Flyers would be the 35-year-old’s third NHL team, having played three seasons with the Canadiens before spending four seasons with the Islanders. In those seven seasons he has totaled 288 points (65 goals, 223 assists) in 491 games, including six goals and 21 helpers during 2012-13.

Harper is a 24-year-old from Valencia, Calif., who split time between the AHL and ECHL last season.

Evgeni Malkin

So much for clearing house.

One week after bowing out of the playoffs to the Bruins in the Eastern Conference finals, the Penguins have signed star center Evgeni Malkin to an eight-year, $76 million contract extension that will take him through the 2021-22 season.

The new deal makes Malkin the most highly paid Penguin, his $9.5 million average surpassing Sidney Crosby‘s $8.7 million annual salary.

This is the second major extension of the week for the Penguins, who on Wednesday announced a new two-year deal with coach Dan Bylsma.

Malkin had 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 15 playoff games this season, but none against the Bruins. He was also a minus-5 as the Bruins won four straight against Pittsburgh.

Welcome to Thursday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

THURSDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
MLB: Red Sox at Orioles, 7:05 p.m. (NESN; WEEI-FM)
NBA Finals: Heat at Spurs, 9 p.m. (ABC; WEEI-AM)
Golf: US Open, 9 a.m. (ESPN), 3 p.m. (NBC), 5 p.m. (ESPN)

AROUND THE WEB:

Former player Jason Kidd will be introduced Thursday as the new coach of the Nets. (AP)

♦ The Nets announced Wednesday night that they have hired Jason Kidd to be their next coach, despite the fact that the just-retired player has no experience on the bench.

Kidd, 40, retired nine days ago after one season with the Knicks, turning down a reported $6 million from New York to continue playing. His deal with the Nets — for whom he starred in the 2000s — is reported to be for three years.

“It’s a role I have been studying for over the course of my playing days,” Kidd said in a statement. “Championship teams are built on being prepared, playing unselfishly and being held accountable, and that’s how I expect to coach this basketball team. I am truly excited about this next phase of my basketball career.”

Said owner Mikhail Prokhorov: “Jason Kidd has a long and legendary history with the Nets and with the city of New York. He has the fire in the belly we need, and has achieved as a player everything the Brooklyn Nets are striving to achieve. We believe he will lead us there. Welcome home, Jason.”

The hire didn’t sit well with Patrick Ewing Jr., son of the Hall of Fame center who this week was hired to be an associated head coach with the Bobcats after again failing to land a head coaching gig despite nine years as an assistant with the Rockets, Wizards and Magic.

Tweeted Ewing Jr.: For real though I’m mad J Kidd got a head coaching job a year after retiring n my pops been coaching 10 years n barely gets a look.

♦ Fines and suspensions are expected to be announced Thursday for the Diamondbacks and Dodgers for their Tuesday night brawl. The teams played an incident-free game Wednesday night, with Arizona pulling out an 8-6 victory in 12 innings, but there still are some lingering bad feelings.

“I don’t think it ends there,” said Dodgers reliever Ronald Belisario, who was ejected.

One player who is likely to be punished is former Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett. Because he is on the Dodgers’ disabled list, he is forbidden to step on the field, which he did during the melee.

The teams have had issues since the 2011 season, when Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw hit Gerardo Parro as payback for Parra admiring a home run too long in a game the previous day. Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy, who was in the middle of Tuesday’s battle, twice threw at Kershaw in one at-bat last year.

Arizona has won 17 of the last 21 meetings between the teams.

♦ NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, responding to a letter from 10 members of Congress who were critical of the Redskins name because of its offensive nature, claimed that the nickname is a “unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect.”

While acknowledging the feelings about the name are complex and could change, he noted the fans’ pride in the team’s heritage and pointed to polls that support the game.

Owner Daniel Snyder has said he will never change the name.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA (answer below): On June 13, 1997, the Red Sox played their first interleague regular-season game ever, recording an 8-7 victory over which National League club?

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