From 9 a.m. through the ninth inning, a day in the life of the Rangers grounds crew

Ever wondered what it's like to be a member of the grounds crew? We spent a day with the Texas Rangers staff to find out.

9:00 a.m.: The grounds crew arrives at the Ballpark in Arlington bright and early. They remove any remaining debris from the previous night's game from the field.

10:00 a.m.: Once the field has been cleaned, the grounds crew divides in three to mow it. One group mows the outfield, another mows the infield and the last group takes care of the sides of the infield. If the foul lines on the outfield grass need to be touched up, they repaint them by hand.

12:00-1:00 p.m.: Lunch break!

2:30 p.m.: The grounds crew spends about an hour preparing the field for batting practice. They set up the batting cage and infield screens (which protect the players at the bases).

3:30-5:30 p.m.: This is about the only time the grounds crew gets a breather during their busy day at the ballpark. They might spend it in the break room or playing basketball on the official Rangers hoop right outside.

6:00 p.m.: When the visiting team has finished batting practice, the grounds crew heads back to the field to take down the BP equipment and prepare for the game.

The first priority is to drag the infield dirt and rake along the first and third-base lines. Then it's time to ready the pitcher's mound and home plate. They chalk up the batter's box and hammer the "cleat cleaner" into the pitcher's mound. Both home plate and the pitching rubber are spray-painted white.

After that, the grounds crew chalks the foul ball lines and waters the infield, which helps the players gain better traction.

Once the bases are in place, it's time to play ball!

During the game: The grounds crew drags the infield at the bottom of the third and sixth innings.

After the final out: The game might be over, but there's plenty more to do. Home plate and the pitcher's mound must be repaired every night. Even if the Ballpark lights have been extinguished for a fireworks show, the crew is still hard at work.