If you give them out, they will come.

In Oklahoma City on Saturday, MLB in partnership with the New Zion Baptist Church went the distance -- and then some -- to hand out bats and balls to kids in advance of warmer weather and 2021 baseball and softball action.

As part of an ongoing effort to bridge tangible connections between baseball and the Black community, Major League Baseball co-hosted three drive-thru Play Ball events with Black churches on Saturday in Oklahoma City, as well as Charleston, S.C., and Richmond, Va.

"Given all of the circumstances of a pandemic and several reschedulings due to Oklahoma's record-setting [cold] weather, the event went well," said Michael Chapple, a volunteer at the Oklahoma City event.

Chapple, along with his wife Michelle and others, donated their time and energy to make the event a rousing success for all the kids who drove by.

"The community as well as some outside of the community appreciated the Initiative and the acknowledgement of Black History Month," Chapple said.

The socially distanced occasions were part of a series of community events that MLB and Black churches are co-hosting throughout the country, providing families and children with bat & ball sets that they can safely enjoy at home and various parts of their neighborhoods, such as parks and playgrounds. Previous events have been held in Columbia, Miss., Camden, Ark., Philadelphia, Queens and Somerset, N.J.

The event in Oklahoma City was held in collaboration with USA Softball, a proud partner of the Play Ball initiative, and part of an effort by MLB to increase softball participation. Recently, MLB hosted the USA Olympic Softball Team at the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy as part of the pre-Olympic “Stand Beside Her Tour,” which MLB co-sponsors.

Also on hand was the Oklahoma City Dodgers' (Triple-A affiliate of Los Angeles) mascot Brix, who helped raise awareness for the event by waving his hand at the edge of the pickup site.

In addition to the event being a home run for those involved, Chapple noted a fun fact: He grew up alongside the man most known for hitting one of two World Series-ending home runs in history.

"Joe Carter and I attended the same school [Millwood] and [lived in the same] neighborhood," Chapple said. "His family and mine associated through school and neighborhood events such as sports and house parties."