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." "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|[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 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.” 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 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 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==