Each day they go at it, but Beltre vs. Buechele never gets old

Spring break has ended in the Metroplex, and the crowds on the back fields at the Surprise Recreation Campus have thinned considerably.

By this time next week, the Texas Rangers will have gone back home, too.

But one of the main attractions each Rangers practice session is still running. Those who have seen it can attest to how entertaining it can be.

Granted, the idea doesn't sound very appealing: watching someone take ground balls.

This instance is an exception: a former big-league third baseman to a future Hall-of-Fame third baseman.

Watching Steve Buechele hit grounder after grounder to Adrian Beltre is a joy to see.

"It's my goal not to let any by, because he will give me [stuff]," Beltre said. "It's the same way. I'll give him [stuff] if he hits line drives. If I don't take a grounder that is mechanically correct, he'll give me stuff, too. 'Hey, nice form.' "

The amount of grounders Beltre takes varies day to day. If he needs a lighter load, Buechele might hit 25 to 30. They have run through an entire ball bag — 80 balls — on the heaviest days.

The sessions come immediately after Beltre's hitting group has taken batting practice that Buechele throws. He gets his daily workout over 20 or 30 minutes.

"I'm loose by the time I do our little session," Buechele said. "With Adrian we try to do it right and do it quick."

They start off relatively easy, with Beltre off the third-base line and behind the bag. Buechele will hit some grounders right at Beltre before mixing in grounders that make him go to his backhand and go glove side.

Buechele also hits choppers that force Beltre to use his legs a little more, but not too much. These are Beltre's legs, after all.

Beltre picks each one, and then rises as if he's going to throw across the diamond before tossing the ball aside into a pile that grows and grows.

"Then, he loves coming up on the grass, and he loves for me to just whale on them," Buechele said.

And that's when it gets really fun.

At times, Beltre looks more like a hockey goalie than a third baseman, kicking his either leg out, falling forward after gloving a ball headed for his five-hole.

"We've got that routine down," Buechele said. "He's gotten really good about knowing if he wants to take a lot or not too many. Shoot, he's been doing it long enough. He knows what he wants. I'm getting a better feel, and I have a pretty good feel of what he wants to do on a given days."

Buechele said he tries to sneak the occasional ball past Beltre, who said it's more than just occasional. When one does get through Beltre, he will hear from the Rangers' first-base coach who spent 11 seasons in the majors.

"Not many get past him and he doesn't miss very many, so I don't have that opportunity very often," said Buechele, the Rangers' five-round pick in the 1982 draft.

When it's done, after Beltre fields the final grounder between his legs but with his glove wrapped behind him, Buechele grabs a bag and together he and Beltre pick up the mound of balls he has just fielded.

The show is over, but it has more than served its purpose for the five-time Gold Glove winner who wants to be better.

"He was a really good third baseman," Beltre said. "He's not afraid to tell me stuff when I'm lacking on something, and I appreciate that. I don't want people to think that I'm OK where I'm at. If anyone sees something defensively, I want to hear it. Sometimes you get comfortable with things, and you don't know you're doing anything wrong."

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Each day they go at it, but Beltre vs. Buechele never gets old."