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The New York Yankees shared a touching tribute to former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger Wednesday. 

Kissinger, the foreign policy behemoth throughout Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford’s presidencies, passed away at his home in Connecticut at age 100, his consulting firm said.

The German-born Jewish refugee was an avid Yankees fan since his youth and the organization paid tribute to him. 

‘The Yankees are profoundly saddened by the passing of former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger, who performed varied and vital diplomatic and advisory roles throughout his distinguished career,’ a statement released on Wednesday read. 

‘A lifelong friend of the Yankees organization, he was a frequent welcome guest of the Steinbrenner family at Yankee Stadium. We offer our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and all who had the privilege of knowing him. He will be deeply missed.’ 

The Yankees shared a tribute to former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger 

Kissinger, a foreign policy behemoth, passed away at his home in Connecticut at age 100

The German-born Jewish refugee was an avid Yankees fan since his youth (Pictured in 2004) 

Statement from the New York Yankees: pic.twitter.com/OeIjo9irQ3

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) November 30, 2023

Kissinger began attending games at the old Yankee Stadium shortly after he moved to the United States from Germany in 1938. 

‘At that time, I could only afford bleacher seats,’ Kissinger said during an interview with Yankees Magazine in 2012. 

‘The bleacher seats at Yankee Stadium were pretty far from home plate, but nothing like the Polo Grounds, where you really couldn’t see well. From the bleachers at Yankee Stadium, I had a great view of Joe DiMaggio playing centerfield. That’s how my interest in baseball really evolved.’

Kissinger was born in the Bavarian city of Furth, Germany, in 1923, before moving to the United States with his family in 1938 to escape the Nazis. 

He credited Yankees legend DiMaggio for inspiring his love of baseball, saying: ‘Joe was an enormously graceful outfielder. 

‘When a ball was hit to him, he sometimes looked as if he were loping, but suddenly he would get to the ball. I identified the Yankees with Joe DiMaggio, but in those days — at which time I was working in a factory — it never occurred to me that some day I would meet him. That was beyond the American dream.’

However, many Yankees fans slammed the organization for sharing a statement on Kissinger’s death on social media. 

‘This is a bad look,’ one posted, while another added, ‘Bro delete this.’

Yankees fans slammed the organization for sharing a statement on Kissinger’s death 

‘Don’t make me start hating my Yankees, he died 100 years too late,’ one New York fan wrote. 

Another added: ‘Imma [sic] be real Yankees admin I woulda resigned instead of tweeting this’.’

‘Just another reason to hate the Yankees,’ one social media user chimed in. 

Kissinger sat alongside baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn just behind home plate at the 1975 All-Stars game in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

He also threw out the ceremonial first pitch ahead of the game, which the National League won 6-3, as Secret Service agents manned the stadium’s concourses and roof, watching the then-record crowd of 51,480.  

In April 2014, Kissinger was spotted by ESPN at Yankee Stadium with an unlikely companion in US ambassador to the United Nations and Boston fan Samantha Power at the Yankees-Red Sox season opener.

Away from the diamond, in the 1970s, Kissinger had a hand in many of the epoch-changing global events of the decade while serving as secretary of state under Republican President Nixon – and Kissinger was hailed for his brilliance and broad experience during his diplomatic years.

His efforts led to the diplomatic opening of China, landmark U.S.-Soviet arms control talks, expanded ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the Paris Peace Accords with North Vietnam.

Kissinger throws out the first baseball of the 46th All-Star game in Milwaukee in 1975 

Kissinger shakes hands with Boston Red Sox player Carlton Fisk during the 1975 World Series

Kissinger pictured greeting Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Bench at the 1975 All-Stars Game 

The former diplomat shares a laugh with Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski at Fenway Park 

Kissinger oses with opera singer Luciano Pavarotti at the Joe DiMaggio Award Dinner 2001

Kissinger’s reign as the prime architect of US foreign policy waned with Nixon’s resignation in 1974. 

Still, he continued to be a diplomatic force under President Gerald Ford and to offer strong opinions throughout the rest of his life – remaining active in politics past his 100th birthday in May this year. 

Kissinger was also an avid soccer fan and was recruited by the US Soccer federation to help lobby, unsuccessfully, for the United States to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. 

The USA was eventually successful in its bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Canada and Mexico. 

His love of the Beautiful Game started in his native Germany where he followed his hometown team, SpVgg Greuther Fuerth, who played in the Bundesliga’s second division. 

‘When the Nazis came in, for anybody of Jewish origin to go to any crowded place was a risk. Kids would beat you up,’ he recalled, via Reuters. ‘I went anyway. There was no rational reason for it.

‘(But) after ’33, going to a soccer match was some adventure for me, I left in ’38.’

Kissinger was made an honorary member of German record champions, Bayern Munich, in the summer of 1989, when the Bundesliga team was on a preseason tour in the USA. 

Kissinger was also a renowned soccer fan. Picture with Franz Beckenbauer

Kissinger and wife Nancy attend the Euro 2008 final between Germany and Spain in Austria

Kissinger attends a game of his hometown team, SpVgg Greuther Fuerth, in 2012

Kissinger gives the one up gesture as baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn as he watches a game between the Yankees and Kansas City Royals in 1976

Kissinger congratulates St. Louis Cardinals Lou Brock in National League dressing room after their win in the 1975 All-Stars game 

‘Henry Kissinger was a man who always stood up for peace and enjoyed a great reputation throughout the world,’ said Bayern president Herbert Hainer, paying tribute to the deceased honorary member Wednesday. 

‘We are very proud to have had such a great politician and such an outstanding person in our Bayern family. Our thoughts are with his family.’

However, Kissinger did not support West Germany with their 1954 watershed-moment World Cup win bearing no significance to him as he had become a US citizen.

‘You know, my experiences in Germany were not that great,’ he said. ‘You would think I am a natural fan of the German national soccer team. I follow them, I wish them well, but I don’t feel about them the way I do the (New York) Yankees.’

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