Craig Heist, a former WTOP Sports broadcaster and a D.C.-area sports journalist who became a mainstay inside the press boxes of the region’s professional sports teams, has died. He was 66.
Heist reported on sports in the D.C. region for over 30 years, covering almost all of the area’s major sports teams. He had just covered the Washington Capitals’ NHL season opener on Wednesday and was set to attend the Washington Commanders game on Monday night.
The cause of his death is unknown.
Known affectionately as “Heisty” by friends and colleagues, Heist became a press box staple, covering in-person for multiple outlets, including 15 years for WTOP. He also was an anchor and reporter for 106.7 The Fan and the postgame host on the Nationals Radio Network since 2013.
“He believed in getting the job done regardless of what it took,” WTOP Sports Director George Wallace said, adding that he was “a grinder.”
Multiple area sports teams including the Washington Nationals, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Commanders posted tribute messages on social media.
WTOP Sports anchor Dave Preston was alongside Heist for the Capitals game on Wednesday. He said his former co-worker was in “good spirits” and ready for another season.
“(He was) more than a co-worker,” Preston said. “He was a really good friend, especially to all of us who lived in those press boxes, from Wizards to Caps to Nationals to college football and basketball season.”
Heist began his career covering sports at WKHI in Ocean City, Maryland, and he graduated from Salisbury University in 1987.
WTOP Sports Director Emeritus Dave Johnson remembers meeting Heist in the 1980s covering Baltimore Orioles games at Memorial Stadium. In the ’90s, Johnson said he recommended Jim Farley, WTOP’s program director at the time, to hire Heist because he fit “the DNA of WTOP.”
“He truly was someone who absolutely loved his work, and it came through, not only in the quality of his work, but also how he approached it,” Johnson said.
Former WTOP Sports anchor Jonathan Warner sat in with Heist at multiple games, saying he admired Heist’s ability to find the story. With Heist’s death, he said, the region is losing over 30 years of D.C. sports knowledge.
“He was one of the first people in the press box, and he’d go right down to the locker room or the clubhouse, and he would get to know the players,” Warner said. “They get to know him. He would go to spring training, he would go to training camp, he got to know these players and the managers and the coaches on a personal level.”
Wallace, who had known Heist for 25 years, said his former co-worker took him and any new interns under his wing to learn how to cover games for radio.
“He was at a ballpark 162 nights a year, 81 for the Nats, 81 for the Orioles,” Wallace said. “When he was working with us, he would do a lot of things on his own, just because he knew that the story needed to be covered, or he knew that the game needed to be covered.”
In the newsroom, Warner said if Heist loved you, “you had a friend for life.” In baseball press boxes, he sat in a center seat and would try to engage in with other reporters.
“He had an electric pencil sharpener, and I think some of the writers would just come over and use that as an excuse just to talk to Heisty,” Warner said.
Yet, Johnson said Heist was not an attention seeker. Instead, he was someone who would help anyone out if asked.
“There was only one Craig, and there was only one Craig that was at every baseball game, every Nationals or Orioles, every Capitals, Wizards, go right down the list, he was there,” he said. “He was the one you could say, ‘all right, he was at all of these sports,’ and that made him truly one of a kind.”
Heist is survived by his wife, Suzanne.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
