Thorpe played baseball for the Rocky Mount club in North Carolina in 1909 and 1910, receiving small payments for each appearance. After he won 2 gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games, the payments were reported in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Thorpe was stripped of his Olympic titles because he had broken the rules regarding amateurism. On 18 January 1983, the International Olympic Committee officially reinstated Thorpe's medals.
