Steve Wilstein
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Steve Wilstein (born September 1, 1948 in New York) is an American sportswriter, author and photographer. Wilstein reported Mark McGwire’s use of the testosterone booster androstenedione during the home run race in 1998, the first news story to expose and corroborate the use of anabolic steroids in baseball. Wilstein’s stories and columns led to revelations that resulted in Congressional hearings, drug-testing in the major leagues for the first time, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on
androstenedione Androstenedione, or 4-androstenedione (abbreviated as A4 or Δ4-dione), also known as androst-4-ene-3,17-dione, is an endogenous weak androgen steroid hormone and intermediate in the biosynthesis of estrone and of testosterone from dehydroepia ...
, and the federal Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004. His work was cited as pivotal by former Sen. George Mitchell in his 2007 report to the commissioner of baseball on steroids in the sport, after a 20-month probe, and was chronicled in the books '' Game of Shadows'' and ''Juicing the Game'', and detailed in the '' ESPN the Magazine'' series, “Who Knew?” In 2009, the Seattle chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America nominated Wilstein for the Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink award "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing." In 2010, Wilstein was featured in filmmaker Ken Burns' PBS baseball documentary, "The Tenth Inning." In 2021, Wilstein was featured in the podcast series “Crushed” by “Religion of Sports.” Wilstein is the author of "The AP Sports Writing Handbook," (McGraw-Hill, 2001), which is used as a primary text in many college journalism classes. Wilstein continues to provide commentary about developments in the “Steroid Era,” although he retired from the AP in 2005.


Major League Baseball's "Steroid Era"

The use of steroids by players had been only hinted at until Wilstein’s story on August 21, 1998, when McGwire and the
Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
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were closing in on
Roger Maris Roger Eugene Maris (September 10, 1934 – December 14, 1985) was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He is best known for setting a new MLB single-season home run record with 61 ...
’ 1961 record of 61 homers—a chase that captivated the country. After Wilstein saw the bottle of andro in McGwire’s open locker while covering the chase, McGwire first denied using it, then admitted he’d been taking it for more than a year when confronted by Wilstein’s colleague at the AP, Nancy Armour. McGwire commented, "Everybody that I know in the game of baseball uses the same stuff I use." Wilstein's story focused on the disparity of steroid rules in different sports. Andro, sold at the time as an over-the-counter supplement that boosted testosterone levels, was allowed in baseball but not in the Olympics, the NFL, pro tennis and all college sports. Shot putter Randy Barnes, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder, had recently drawn a lifetime ban for using andro, reported Wilstein, who had written extensively about steroids in the Olympics since the mid-1980s. "The ensuing AP news story led to renewed scrutiny of the use of 'andro' and other substances by major league players," the Mitchell Report said. "... commissioner (Bud) Selig and others in baseball have said that this incident more than any other caused them to focus on the use of performance-enhancing substances as a possible problem." Wilstein had witnessed an episode of “roid rage” by Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson after a preliminary heat at the
1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
and watched from the finish line as Johnson beat Carl Lewis in the 100-meter final. Johnson soon lost his gold and was sent home in disgrace after testing positive for an
anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known more properly as anabolic–androgenic steroids (AAS), are steroidal androgens that include natural androgens like testosterone (medication), testosterone as well as synthetic androgens that are structurally related ...
. Andro, Wilstein wrote in the story about McGwire, “is seen outside baseball as cheating and potentially dangerous.” The story set off a controversy that has gone on for more than a decade of follow-ups by Wilstein and those who joined in about steroids and the related sports and social issues, among them McGwire's former “
Bash Brother The Bash Brothers are a duo of former baseball players consisting of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. Both prolific home run hitters, the two were teammates in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics, helping the ...
,” Jose Canseco, in his tell-all books, and reporters covering the
BALCO The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) (1984–2003) was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later re ...
federal investigation in San Francisco. McGwire was the first among numerous stars on various teams - including pitcher Roger Clemens, sluggers
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, Alex Rodriguez and
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, and former MVP Ken Caminiti—whose reputations and records were tainted as revelations appeared about their alleged or admitted performance-enhancing drug use. Washington Post baseball writer
Thomas Boswell Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American sports columnist. Career Boswell spent his entire career at the ''Washington Post'', joining it shortly after graduating from Amherst College in 1969. He became ...
in 1988 and the Los Angeles TimesBob Nightengale in 1995 had touched on the baseball steroids issue, but without specifics were largely ignored. “Instead of sparking a wave of follow-up articles or investigations to ferret out the details of steroid use in baseball … sports writers essentially left the story alone,” Editor & Publisher writer Joe Strupp wrote in a 2006 report headlined, “Sports writers say they dropped the ball on steroids in major league sports.” Strupp noted in an earlier E&P report in 2006 that “Wilstein’s discovery marked the first real press probe into which substances and supplements baseball players were using, and what effect they were having on their accomplishments, abilities and health.” “But then a funny thing happened,” Strupp wrote in his account of the media's response. “Instead of being praised for discovering a questionable act by a baseball star in the middle of a record-breaking season, Wilstein was vilified.” Wilstein "noticed a bottle of androstenedione and opened up a can of worms," '' USA Today'' baseball columnist Hal Bodley wrote in 2005. "This was baseball's feel-good story that no one, including Selig and the union, wanted tainted by a performance-enhancing supplement few of us knew anything about." On January 11, 2010, Wilstein's suspicions and Jose Canseco's allegations of McGwire's
steroid A steroid is a biologically active organic compound with four rings arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and a ...
use were confirmed by Mark McGwire in a statement to and interview with the ''Associated Press'' and later interviews with Bob Costas and others by McGwire. Upon the news, many sports columnists and media spoke of Wilstein's vindication and CNN.com asked Wilstein to provide his views in an op-ed piece. Wilstein wrote that McGwire should be banned from Major League Baseball for life and that his acts hurt baseball more than those of Pete Rose.


Personal life

Wilstein graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 with a political science degree and began his career in journalism a year later working for United Press International as a sports writer from 1971 through 1978.


Journalism awards

His awards include the National Headliner Award for a feature on boxer Jerry Quarry’s brain damage, the John Hancock business writing award for coverage of the 1987 stock market crash, and three AP Managing Editors awards for features on injured New York Jets player
Dennis Byrd Dennis DeWayne Byrd (October 5, 1966 – October 15, 2016) was an American football defensive end and defensive tackle for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He attended college at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ...
, illegal sports gambling’s ties to organized crime, and former
Los Angeles Dodger The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
Glenn Burke Glenn Lawrence Burke (November 16, 1952 – May 30, 1995) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979. He was the first MLB player to come out as gay, announcing it in 1982 after ...
’s struggle with AIDS. Wilstein won a record 20 AP Sports Editors awards for his work covering the Olympics, Super Bowls, World Series, college football bowl games, the Grand Slam of tennis, sports business, race and gender in sports and other issues.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilstein, Steve 1948 births Living people University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni American sportswriters