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.
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.
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.
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.
[15] In 1970, Wilstein graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison 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.