In recent years, Ballard has appeared laneside in several televised PBA matches, as a ball representative and coach for Storm Bowling.

In the nationally-televised championship match at the 1991 Fair Lanes Open tournament in Baltimore, Ballard faced Pete Weber for the title.

Ballard did throw the two strikes that he needed, but the third shot unfortunately came too close to the right channel and fell in, thus handing Pete Weber the title.

[9] Ballard recovered from this loss a few weeks later, defeating Jim Johnson Jr. to win the Long Island Open.

He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Texas Oncology, an affiliate of Baylor University Medical Center, and prognosis for a full recovery was good.

[10] Wanting to turn a negative into a positive, he and wife Carolyn, along with a few friends, got together after one of his treatments and organized the "Ballard vs.