Keith O’Brien

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...

Traci Thomas' Most Anticipated Books of 2026 - She Reads I’m back! Did you miss me? Here is my list [...]

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...

Thanks, Adam!

Seriously!

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.

YouTube video by Keith O'Brien HEARTLAND — video trailer

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...

Thanks, Chanda!

Always a good sign, IMO!

The best softball story you’ll ever hear involving two future Hall of Famers. #heartland #larrybird #larrylegend #joemontana #marchmadness TikTok video by Keith O’Brien

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.

NCAA: Six hoops players banned for betting plots Six former men's college basketball players at New Orleans, Mississippi Valley State and Arizona State participated in gambling schemes that included game manipulation or sharing information with know...

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. 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Will the Toronto Blue Jays get a White House invite if they win the World Series? The 1992 World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays visited the White House after their title, back when George Bush was in office. Read more.

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!

Sankey asks NCAA to rescind betting rule change SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a letter to NCAA president Charlie Baker on Oct. 25, stating that a rule change allowing athletes to bet on professional sports is a step in the wrong direction.

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?
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Prop Bets Must Die As long as one player can fix the outcome of a wager, the temptation will prove irresistible to some athletes.

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...

Heat’s Terry Rozier arrested as part of FBI gambling investigation A federal gambling investigation led to the arrest Thursday of Heat guard Terry Rozier.

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.