I love the cover for HEARTLAND. But man, I really love the back jacket. Thanks to all these great writers for their support and thanks to the brilliant design team ⁦‪⁦ @atriabooks.bsky.social for turning vision into reality. Book drops on 3/3 and preorders are open now!

On this date in 1991, Pete Rose was released from federal prison in Illinois, after serving a five-month sentence for failure to pay his taxes. He had just weathered one of the darkest periods in his life. But he emerged on this day unchanged, defiant and bold and lying about betting on baseball.

The older teenager got me a Christmas gift. It is perfect. And with this mug at the ready, I am back at it, closing out the year with (hopefully) another productive day at the Word Factory. #amwriting

Massive preorder sale happening right now @barnesandnoble.com … Check it out and preorder your copy of HEARTLAND today at a serious discount! www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heartland-...

Fans have been complaining this month about the death of the college bowl. Turns out, the men who created the first real national title game back in 1998 predicted this future. We should have seen it coming all along. My latest for @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

Philip Rivers is every dad. Ever.

If you’ve never seen Larry Bird in a cowboy hat, you have now. My new book, HEARTLAND, comes out on 3/3/26. Preorder your copy today wherever they sell books. 🏀🤠🔥 www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8yM1bbh/

Dear readers: If you are looking for personalized gifts this holiday season, my local independent bookseller is ready to help. Order your signed copies today. Water Street Books ships for free. Your books will arrive in time for Christmas, and everyone wins! waterstreetbooks.com/keith-obrien...

The great Traci Thomas—the heart of The Stacks podcast and one of best literary voices out there today—has named HEARTLAND as one of her “most anticipated” books of 2026. And apparently, I am now the “Larry Bird of sports biographers." Amazing! Truly. Wow. shereads.com/traci-thomas...

This is a no-brainer, folks. Vote him in! And while you’re at it, vote in Roger Craig too. If you watched football in the 1980s, you know.

My new book HEARTLAND has a trailer! Watch, enjoy, share with friends, spread the word, and preorder your copy today. It comes out on 3/3/26 from @atriabooks.bsky.social, and I can’t wait for you to read it. Thanks, everyone! 💙🏀💙 www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H6_...

I am thrilled that my home state of Ohio has selected Charlie Hustle as a community read in 2026! Thank you to the @statelibohio.bsky.social, the Ohio Center for the Book & the Ohioana Library for this honor. This book just keeps chugging around the bases... library.ohio.gov/home/news-an...

The best story you’ll ever hear about softball and two future Hall of Famers. Check out my TikTok account to give it a listen. 🥎🏀🏈 #heartland www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8UhvRos/

In the summer of 1978, two future Hall of Famers—Larry Bird and Joe Montana—squared off for a state title in slow-pitch softball. Can you guess who performed better that weekend on the dusty fields of Indiana? Make your choice in the comments. I’ll reveal the answer later this week. #heartland

Nothing made me feel older today than the death of the penny.

In an age of gambling scandals, this is just another. Prop bets are dangerous to all the sports you love.

Quietly, the NCAA has banned six players in yet another sports gambling scandal. Just another day in America. www.espn.com/mens-college...

The switch to standard time means one thing: it already feels like winter in New Hampshire. This is a live view of the sky at 4:53 p.m.

Baseball. There’s nothing like it.

Devastating loss for Toronto. Amazing World Series for baseball fans around the world. Pitchers and catchers report in 101 days.

Gotta hand it to Derek Jeter … He called this in the pregame. He said Bo Bichette would come up with runners on as the Dodgers tried to pitch around Vlad. Shohei intentionally walks Vlad to get the Bichette. And—boom—Canada explodes. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

It’s been 32 years since the Stanley Cup resided in Canada. But the World Series champs could reside there tonight—and Toronto is so excited for it, they might be getting ahead of themselves. 🇨🇦⚾️🇨🇦 torontosun.com/sports/baseb...

When did I get interested in writing about Larry Bird? I guess you can say 1987—when we visited Terre Haute and stopped at Bird’s restaurant. This is me with my brother and sister that day. I regret nothing—except for that Ohio State hoodie. Check out HEARTLAND, coming 3/3/26. Preorders are open!

Things get messy once you open Pandora's box... Now that college athletes are cleared to bet on professional sports, it's only a matter of time before the NEXT sports gambling scandal hits. It's not if, but when. www.espn.com/college-spor...

We should all channel the fortitude and determination of this tree, trapped in an abandoned suburban parking lot, but still releasing its glory into the great wide world. 🌳🍁💙

If you pray, pray for Jamaica. There should not be a hurricane this strong in the Caribbean this late in the season. #ClimateCrisis #HurricaneMelissa

Given the latest sports gambling scandals, I’m not sure this fan is the image that MLB wants behind home plate tonight. But I guess this is what you get in a world of legalized gambling.

Wait—which team was heavily favored to win this World Series? 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Yesterday's sports gambling bombshell isn't an outlier. Actually, it's alarmingly normal. Gambling scandals are the new American pastime. But there is an easy way to head off the next crisis: Take prop bets off the board. My piece for the @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Another sports gambling scandal is unfolding in Florida—allegedly involving prop bets yet again. This should surprise no one and worry everyone who cares about the integrity of the games we watch. www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/m...

What a fun night at the Ohio Book Awards—with Gov. Mike DeWine, the First Lady Ohio, my date for the evening (my mother!), great writers like @timothysnyder.bsky.social, and people fighting to defend books.

Already paying the price for staying up until the end of this one. But I don’t regret it. It was PEAK playoff baseball.

In the powder blues with all that hair and moxie, Harrison Bader looks like he could have been on that @phillies.com team with Darren Daulton and Lenny Dykstra.

High drama right now in Chavez Ravine. Dodgers and Phillies going to the 11th.

Every writer needs a process, and also a good hat. This was the hat I wore as I wrote and edited HEARTLAND, as it came from Indiana, was a connection across space and time & seemed to fit the moment. Can’t wait to share this book with you. Until then, please preorder! @atriabooks.bsky.social

The Phillies are apparently wearing their powder-blue throwbacks on the road in LA tonight because that’s what Bryce Harper wanted. You know who else would approve? This guy. ⚾️❤️

The @nypost.com does not disappoint.

He was "almost perfect" once for Walpole. He was flawless tonight in New York. Cam Schlittler—a son of Massachusetts—is breaking hearts around New England tonight. #mlb #wildcard #Yankees #RedSox ⚾️

Against automated balls and strikes? The so-called robo-umps? Maybe you should see the pitch that just cost the Padres in the top of the ninth in Chicago. #mlb #WildCard

Having watched a lot of baseball in the past 48 hours, I think the new automated balls & strikes system is going to get a lot of use next spring—and definitely next October in the playoffs. Lots of borderline ball and strike calls have been called... the wrong way. ⚾️⁉️😉

Lots of empty seats in Chavez Ravine tonight. I guess Dodgers fans don’t think this really counts as a playoff game.

The #23 payroll versus the #1 payroll tonight.

Here’s to you, @reds.com fans! ❤️⚾️❤️

THIS COVER IS SO GORGEOUS! I have a complex relationship with Larry Bird, given that I grew up both in Indiana and in a Philadelphia with a Celtics rivalry, but that makes my excitement for the full @keithob.bsky.social treatment SKYROCKET! This looks incredible!

For those who are wondering how automated balls and strikes might change baseball, I wrote about that for @rollingstone.com seven months ago. #baseball #mlb www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

🩵!!! COVER REVEAL !!! 🩵 Check out the cover for my forthcoming book, HEARTLAND, about the rise of Larry Bird in rural Indiana, the miracle of his 1979 Indiana State team, and the enduring power and meaning of that team some 50 years later. Coming 3/3/26 from @atriabooks.bsky.social!

Congrats to Marty Brennaman, the longtime voice of the Cincinnati Reds, who was immortalized in bronze outside Great American Ballpark this weekend. Marty had an incredible moment and the @reds.com won. What a night!

If you missed our SABR panel on Pete Rose, Shoeless Joe, and the Baseball Hall of Fame with @keithob.bsky.social, @jayjaffe.bsky.social & @dvnjr.bsky.social, the video is now up on YouTube. m.youtube.com/watch?v=EIg6...

You have Pete Rose questions? We have answers! Looking forward to being part of this SABR all-star team tonight. Link to register here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Biggest basketball game in New York City in a quarter of a century—and the ticket price reflects the moment. #Knicks #NBA #knicksin6