Series Preview #42: The Brewers And Cubs' Shared History

As the Brewers and Cubs get ready to open their final series of 2012 at Wrigley Field, we'll take a moment to remember the careers of a handful of players both fanbases have had an opportunity to cheer for.

Longest tenured Brewer position player who was also a Cub: Jeromy Burnitz

Burnitz was a big leaguer for parts of four seasons as a Met and Indian before coming to Milwaukee and getting his first chance to play every day and demonstrate just how good he could be. Burnitz appeared in 782 games for the Brewers between 1996 and 2001 and hit .258/.362/.508 and is still among the franchise's all time leaders in walks (seventh), home runs (ninth), HBP (ninth), OBP (eighth among players with >1000 PA) and slugging (fifth among players with >1000 PA).

One of Burnitz's final full major league seasons came with the Cubs in 2005 when he appeared in 160 games and hit .258/.322/.435 with 24 home runs.

The runner-up on this list is 1993-97 Brewer Matt Mieske, who appeared in 435 games for the Brewers before being a 1998 Cub.

Longest tenured Brewer pitcher who was also a Cub: Jim Colborn

The Cubs signed the righthanded Colborn as an amateur free agent in 1967 and he debuted for them in 1969, his first of three partial seasons in Chicago. He posted 1 3.87 ERA over 54 career appearances on the north side.

Following the 1971 season the Cubs traded Colborn to the Brewers in a four player deal, and two years later he was the first 20-game winner in Brewer franchise history. He appeared in 183 games and pitched 1118 innings over five seasons as a Brewer, including a franchise record 314.1 in 1973.

The runner-up on this list is Jaime Navarro, who pitched 1061.2 innings as a Brewer over two stints with the team and was a Cub in 1995 and 1996.

Follow the jump for more memories!

Longest tenured Cub position player who was also a Brewer: Aramis Ramirez

Ramirez was just a couple of days shy of his 25th birthday in 2003 when the Pirates traded him to the Cubs, starting his nine year run on the north side of Chicago. Ramirez hit .294/.356/.531 in 1124 games as a Cub with 239 home runs, the sixth highest total in franchise history.

Ramirez is currently in the first year of a three year contract with the Brewers, and his home run yesterday raised his 2012 line to .291/.356/.516. After a slow start to his season he's become one of the Brewers' most reliable contributors.

Second place here belongs to outfielder Jose Cardenal, who was a Brewer briefly in 1971 before being a Cub for 821 games from 1972-77.

Longest tenured Cub pitcher who was also a Brewer: Dick Ellsworth

The Cubs signed Ellsworth as an amateur free agent in 1958 and he made his major league debut later that same season, his first of eight in Chicago. He posted a 3.70 ERA over 1613.1 innings with the Cubs, was an All Star in 1964 and led all of baseball with 22 losses in 1966.

Ellsworth closed out his 13 year major league career with two partial seasons as a Brewer in 1970-71, appearing in 25 games and posting a 3.26 ERA over 30.1 innings.

Second on this list was Ray Burris, who was a Cub for 1068.2 innings between 1973 and 1979 and a 1985-87 Brewer.

All told, 84 players have appeared in at least one game for both franchises. Five position players have appeared in 160 games or more for each team:

Here are the five pitchers to throw 188 innings or more in both uniforms: