If I recall correctly, Baseball was never happy with the conviction of Steinbrenner for illegal campaign contributions to Nixon.

But the problem that led to his "lifetime ban" from baseball occurred when he was having his problems with Winfield, and hired someone to dig up dirt on the reight fielder to embarrass and discredit him. Maybe it was the tip of the iceberg. Someone with a better memory can maybe provide more details. Subsequently, Winfield entered the Hall of Fame as a Padre.