He was the owner of the New York Yankees who was banned from baseball for life, but he's back after a 2 1/2 year suspension. His name is George Steinbrenner. What was he banned for?

In 1990, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner faced a significant ban from Major League Baseball, stemming from his involvement with a known gambler. The controversy arose from a bitter feud between Steinbrenner and Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield. Winfield had sued the Yankees for failing to contribute $300,000 to his charitable foundation (Review), a stipulation in his contract.

In an effort to uncover damaging information about Winfield, Steinbrenner paid a confessed gambler named Howie Spira $40,000. This payment and association with a gambler violated baseball's rules, leading Commissioner Fay Vincent to intervene. On July 30, 1990, Vincent issued a ruling that initially amounted to a permanent ban from the day-to-day management of the team, stating that Steinbrenner had not acted in the best interests of baseball.

While initially termed a "lifetime" ban, Steinbrenner's actual time away from actively running the Yankees was shorter. Commissioner Vincent had initially considered a two-year suspension, but Steinbrenner, reportedly concerned about its impact on his standing with the U.S. Olympic Committee, agreed to a more severe-sounding "permanent restriction" or "agreement" to step away.

Ultimately, George Steinbrenner was reinstated in March 1993, meaning his ban from day-to-day operations lasted approximately two and a half years. This was not Steinbrenner's first brush with a baseball suspension; he had previously been banned for illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon in 1974, a suspension that was later commuted. His return marked a new era for the Yankees, who would go on to achieve significant success in the years that followed.