WICHITA (AP) — Donations poured in Wednesday to replace a destroyed statue of Jackie Robinson on what would have been the 105th birthday of the first player to break Major League Baseball’s color barrier.

Major League Baseball pledged support. And the total raised just through one online fundraiser surpassed $145,000, which is far in excess of the estimated $75,000 value of the bronze statue that was cut from its base last week at a park in Wichita, Kansas. Police are searching for those responsible.

Only the statue’s feet were left at McAdams Park, where about 600 children play in a youth baseball league called League 42, which is named after Robinson’ s uniform number with the Brooklyn Dodgers, with whom he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947.

Fire crews found burned remnants of the statue Tuesday while responding to a trash can fire at another park about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) away. A truck believed to be used in the theft previously was found abandoned, and police said the theft was captured on surveillance video.

Bob Lutz, executive director of the Little League nonprofit that commissioned the sculpture, said Wednesday in a message on X, formerly Twitter, that the MLB commissioner’s office and 30 clubs had committed funding toward the cost of replacing the statue and providing other support.

“Amazing, huh?” he said.

Lutz had said earlier that the money raised also could enhance some of its programming and facilities. In April, the group opened the Leslie Rudd Learning Center, which includes an indoor baseball facility and a learning lab.

“We’re not just baseball,” Lutz said. “We have after school education, enrichment and tutoring.”

One of the largest donations is a $10,000 pledge from an anonymous former Major League Baseball player who won a World Series. Wichita police Chief Joe Sullivan, who announced the donation over the weekend, has urged anyone involved in the theft to surrender and vowed that arrests were imminent.

“The community, along with the business community and the nation as a whole, have demonstrated an incredible outpouring of support,” Sullivan said in a statement Wednesday. “This effort highlights the kindness of the people and their determination to rebuild what was taken away from our community.”

Lutz, whose friend, the artist John Parsons, made the statue before his death, said the mold is still viable and anticipated that a replacement can be erected within a matter of months.

“We value what it represents,” he said. “It’s important that our 600 kids understand what it represents. And, we make every effort to educate our kids about the role that Jackie Robinson played in life and civil rights, his life beyond sports. He’s the absolute best role model you could imagine.”

League 42 drew attention to Robinson’s birthday Wednesday in a Facebook post, noting that “his legacy will hold up forever” and asking for donations.

Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers, paving the way for generations of Black American ballplayers. He’s considered not only a sports legend but also a civil rights icon. Robinson died in 1972.

Lutz said that the league appeals to “all kids, but especially to kids of color” and that the connection to Robinson resonated.

“We can’t imagine, being named League 42 without a Jackie Robinson statue in our park,” he said. “It was a no-brainer when we went about trying to name our league. And the name League 42 came up. It was like lightning and struck. We knew we had our name.”

BALTIMORE (AP) — Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein has reached an agreement to buy the Baltimore Orioles for $1.725 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the deal.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday night because the agreement had not been announced. Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, would take over as the team’s controlling owner, and he’s assembled an investment team that includes Ares co-founder Michael Arougheti.

The Angelos family has been in control of the Orioles since 1993, when Peter Angelos purchased the team for $173 million. Angelos’ son John is the team’s current chairman. The team recently reached a deal on a new lease extension at Camden Yards. Maryland officials approved that long-term agreement after months of negotiations.

The deal extended the lease for 30 years, with an option to end it after 15 if the team does not receive approval from state officials for development plans next to the ballpark.

Prior to forming Carlyle in 1987, Rubenstein practiced law in Washington. From 1977-81, he was a deputy assistant for domestic policy to President Jimmy Carter. After graduating from Duke in 1970, he attended University of Chicago Law School.

The sale agreement, which requires approval from major league owners, was first reported by Puck.

The Orioles are coming off a 101-win season and their first AL East title since 2014. With young stars like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson — and another top prospect on the way in Jackson Holliday — the future looks as bright as it has in a while for a team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1983.

One sore spot with fans is the club’s payroll, which has remained low, and it’s been another quiet offseason for the team so far. If the new ownership group is able to keep Baltimore’s young core together, the Orioles could have a lengthy window of contention.

When Peter Angelos first took control of the Orioles, they had recently started playing at Camden Yards, the downtown venue that revolutionized the way baseball parks were built. The Orioles spent aggressively, at least for a little while, and won the division in 1997 with future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Mike Mussina and Harold Baines.

After that, Baltimore didn’t make the postseason again until 2012, when the Orioles began a renaissance under manager Buck Showalter. They eventually had to rebuild again, losing at least 108 games in 2018, 2019 and 2021 — a streak interrupted only by the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Even as the team posted the best record in the American League last year, there were ominous signs, such as a New York Times piece in which Angelos was quoted as saying: “When people talk about giving this player $200 million, that player $150 million, we would be so financially underwater that you’d have to raise the prices massively.”

A sale must be approved in a vote of at least 75% by the 30 major league teams. The sales approval process typically lasts several months.

DETROIT (AP) — Toyota and General Motors are telling the owners of about 61,000 older Corolla, Matrix, RAV4 and Pontiac Vibe models to stop driving them because their Takata air bag inflators are at risk of exploding and hurling shrapnel.

The urgent warning Monday covers certain Corolla compact cars and Matrix hatchbacks from the 2003 and 2004 model years, as well as the RAV4 small SUV from 2004 and 2005. Also covered are about 11,000 Pontiac Vibes from 2003 and 2004, which are essentially the same as the Matrix and were made at the same California factory. Most of the vehicles are in the U.S.

“If the air bag deploys, a part inside is more likely to explode and shoot sharp metal fragments, which could cause serious injury or death to the driver or passengers,” Toyota said in a statement.

The recalled RAV4s have Takata driver’s air bags while the Corolla and Matrix models have them on the passenger side. The Corolla and Matrix also are under a separate recall because their air bags can be deployed without a crash, the company said.

Both companies said owners should contact a local dealer instead of driving the cars in for repairs. Dealers will provide options such as mobile repair, towing the car to a dealer, or vehicle pickup and delivery.

Owners can go to nhtsa.gov/recalls and enter their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if their cars are affected.

Takata used volatile ammonium nitrate to create a small explosion to inflate air bags in a crash. But the chemical propellant can deteriorate over time when exposed to high temperatures and humidity. It can explode with too much force, blowing apart a metal canister and spewing shrapnel.

At least 26 people have been killed in the U.S. by Takata inflators since May 2009, and at least 30 have died worldwide including people in Malaysia and Australia. In addition, about 400 people have been injured. The exploding air bags sent Takata of Japan into bankruptcy.

The potential for a dangerous malfunction led to the largest series of auto recalls in U.S. history. About 100 million inflators were recalled worldwide.