The Braves adnd A's collided in Atlanta on the first weekend of interleague play, with the Braves winning two our of three. Bob Rosato/SI

Somewhere, there are cranky old guys with "Ban the DH" bumper stickers on their station wagons who still think that Bud Selig is the devil himself and that interleague play is his demonic play toy. They live for the day when the wild card dies an excruciating death and interleague goes kicking and screaming with it.

Well, sorry old guys. If this weekend proved anything, it's that interleague play -- despite Seattle-San Diego and Kansas City-Florida -- isn't going anywhere.

Here are three reasons why. And, really, this is just one reason bent three different ways:

• In Cincinnati on Saturday, 42,023 fans crammed into Great American Ball Park to see the Reds host the cross-state Indians. It was the Reds' second sellout of the season, their first since Opening Day.

• In Arlington, Texas on Saturday, 38,534 saw the Rangers dump the cross-state Astros. It was the Rangers' second-biggest crowd of the year, behind their home opener against the Orioles.

• In all, some 631,458 fans rolled through the turnstiles for Saturday's 15 interleague games (and one National League leftover), the sixth-largest ticket sales day in baseball history.

Despite the protestations of traditionalists, interleague play is sticking around because it is an unqualified hit with a huge majority of fans. And that means it's a money-maker for the clubs.

Interleague play still has the ability to intrigue, too, despite those claims that it has grown stale and tired. For every Royals-Marlins matchup, there are good ones, too. The Rays-Cardinals series in St. Louis last weekend was scintillating, with the Cardinals taking two of the three games with a 10th-inning walkoff homer Saturday and a walkoff single over a drawn-in outfield in the ninth inning Sunday.

Also Sunday, more than 34,000 fans were on hand when Reds starter Edinson Volquez and Cleveland starter Cliff Lee met. It marked only the third time in history that the two leagues' ERA leaders were pitted against each other. Volquez got the win, giving up four hits and two runs in six innings. Lee was handed his first loss of the season in the Reds' 6-4 victory.

Foes of interleague play get a break this week, and for the next couple of weeks, as baseball returns to its regularly scheduled, intraleague format. But the opponents of interleague action are already revving up for the next round, scheduled to begin June 13.

The whining won't do any good then, either.

Player of the Week

Ryan Braun began his week with a second consecutive two-homer game, ended it with another two-homer game and, in between, did his real damage, signing a record contract for a player with less than a year in the big leagues and the largest ever for a Brewers' player (eight years, $45 million). On the field, Braun went 10-for-29 (.345) with six home runs, 10 RBIs and eight runs scored in seven games, including his third two-homer game of the year on Sunday. Off the field, the 24-year-old Braun signed a seven-year extension that included a $2.3 million signing bonus. The deal will keep him a member of the Brewers through the 2015 season. The total value of the contract could rise to $51 million.

Team of the Week

They started the week off with a couple of losses to the Angels, but since manager Ozzie Guillen juggled his lineup, the White Sox have ripped off five straight wins. Granted, the last three have been against the sinking Giants, who have now lost five in a row. Still, the White Sox -- a team no one outside of the South Side of Chicago expected to compete for a title in the American League Central -- now find themselves 1 1/2 games ahead in the division. The lineup change has made some difference; Carlos Quentin, now hitting third, is 7-for-17 (.412) in the last five games, with two homers and eight RBIs. But the real success has been on the mound. Before Sunday's 13-8 win, the Sox allowed only five runs in the first four wins of the streak, for a 1.00 ERA and a .209 batting average against.