Significantly Insignificant said:
The one story that always stuck with me was from Hal Pal. He had booked the Beatles to play at the Gardens. There was a miscommunication, and he thought he had booked them for two nights, and they thought they were only playing one. So when he said "you have to stay for two nights", they said give us more money. They went back and forth on this and in the end Ballard ended up having to pay more money to the Beatles to stay the extra night.
So on the first night, he cranked the heat, put extra salt on anything that had salt, wouldn't let anyone go outside, and he doubled the price of drinks. He made enough money that first night in concessions to more than pay for the second night.
If there was one thing about Pal Hal, and he was definitely a grouch of a character alright, is that he could at times (away from the limelight) quite generous.
I remember my late brother having told me that one day while he was in the hospital when he was a young boy recovering from minor surgery, he received an envelope with tickets to the Beatles concert (I still have the ticket stubs). No one knew where or who sent them except that they were sent by a radio station on behalf of someone (whom many found out later to have been Ballard).
That was a wonderful gesture of generosity particularly on Ballard's part when it became known that Old Harold loved putting smiles on children's faces. It didn't stop there, for my brother also received Leafs tickets.
I'm in no means trying to sugarcoat Ballard in any way, for the man dealt shadily in his financial activities and had a callous disregard for many of the Maple Leafs player of the era.
