Steve Wilstein
Born (1948-09-01) September 1, 1948
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison (1970)
Occupation(s)Sportswriter, author, photographer
Employer(s)United Press International, Associated Press (AP)
Notable workExposing Mark McGwire's use of androstenedione

Steve Wilstein (born September 1, 1948) 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, 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[1] and Juicing the Game, and detailed in the ESPN the Magazine series, “Who Knew?”[2] 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".[3] In 2010, Wilstein was featured in filmmaker Ken Burns' PBS baseball documentary, "The Tenth Inning".[4] In 2021, Wilstein was featured in the podcast series “Crushed” by “Religion of Sports.”[5]

Wilstein is the author of "The AP Sports Writing Handbook",[6] 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’ Sammy Sosa were closing in on Roger Maris’ 1961 record of 61 homers in one season—a chase that captivated the country. After Wilstein saw the bottle of androstenedione 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."[2]

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 US NCAA 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.[7]

"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. "... [C]ommissioner [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".[8]

Wilstein had witnessed an episode of “roid rage” by Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson after a preliminary heat at the 1988 Seoul Olympics 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. Andro, Wilstein wrote in the story about McGwire, “is seen outside baseball as cheating and potentially dangerous.”[7]

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,” Jose Canseco, in his tell-all books, and reporters covering the BALCO federal investigation in San Francisco.

McGwire was the first among numerous stars on various teams - including pitcher Roger Clemens, sluggers Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro, 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 in 1988 and the Los Angeles Times’ Bob 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.”[9]

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.”[10]

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."[11]

On January 11, 2010, Wilstein's suspicions and Jose Canseco's allegations of McGwire's steroid use were confirmed by Mark McGwire in a statement to and interview with the Associated Press[12] and later interviews with Bob Costas and others by McGwire.[13][14] Upon the news, many sports columnists and media spoke of Wilstein's vindication and CNN 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.[15]

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.[10]

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, illegal sports gambling’s ties to organized crime, and former Los Angeles Dodger Glenn Burke’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

  1. ↑ Fainaru-Wada, Mark; Williams, Lance (7 May 2006). "Game of Shadows". The New York Times.
  2. 1 2 "Who Knew?". ESPN. November 9, 2005. Part III 1998-2001 Cause and Effect. Archived from the original on 1 October 2022. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
  3. ↑ Araton, Harvey (17 June 2009). "A Hall of Fame Find by a Sports Reporter". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Shapiro, Craig (5 October 2010). "'Baseball: The Tenth Inning' knocks it right out of the park". The Virginian-Pilot. Archived from the original on 10 July 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  5. ↑ Chapter 2: The Snoop. Crushed. Religion of Sports. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Wilstein, Steve (2002). Associated Press Sports Writing Handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780071372183.
  7. 1 2 Wilstein, Steve (21 August 1998). "Drug OK in Baseball, Not Olympics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  8. ↑ George J. Mitchell (13 December 2007). REPORT TO THE COMMISSIONER OF BASEBALL OF AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION INTO THE ILLEGAL USE OF STEROIDS AND OTHER PERFORMANCE ENHANCING SUBSTANCES BY PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (PDF) (Report). Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. p. 77. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Strupp, Joe (1 October 2006). "Sportswriters Say They Dropped the Ball on Steroids in Major League Sports". Editor & Publisher. Archived from the original on 2009-04-06.
  10. 1 2 Strupp, Joe (1 July 2006). "Reporter Wilstein, who sparked steroids probe, steps back". Editor & Publisher. Archived from the original on 2006-11-02. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  11. ↑ Bodley, Hal (21 February 2005). "MLB, teams, even media share blame". USA Today. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Jenkins, Bruce (14 August 2010). "McGwire truthful in emotions, not words". The San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010.
  13. ↑ Kepner, Tyler (11 January 2010). "McGwire Admits That He Used Steroids". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  14. ↑ Pearlman, Jeff (12 January 2010). "Mark McGwire doesn't get it". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Wilstein, Steve (12 January 2010). "Ban McGwire from baseball". CNN. Archived from the original on 15 January 2010.
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