CLEVELAND — Baseball season is well underway at Progressive Field.
But unfortunately, Cleveland's beloved "Beer Guy" will be missing from home games for the next several months after a recent injury.
“I was in my kitchen, and I slipped, and I hit my knee, and then my knee hit the oven, and then I went down,” said Les ‘The Beer Guy’ Flake. “I walked into my living room, and I got back up again, and my knee went out totally, and I fell again.”
Les Flake, otherwise known as "The Beer Guy," said he later learned he tore his quadriceps.
Because of his accident, this, unfortunately, means the affectionate call many people have grown to know and love will be absent for a while this season.
“This is crazy,” said Flake. “But I’m going to get better.”
Flake tells News 5 he is sad to miss multiple games for the first time in 20 years.
But he says the love he’s been receiving makes the pain easier to bare.
“I don’t even have the words for it,” said Flake. “I have been blessed.”
When Jolly Scholar and Jolly Pizza restaurant owner Matt Vann heard the news about his friend, he said he knew something had to be done.
At first, Vann said Flake was hesitant to ask for help on GoFundMe.
But he finally gave in – and neither Flake nor Vann imagined their call for help would reach the hearts of so many people in just a short amount of time.
“It’s succeeded in our goals, but the reality of it is, we want to see it get to the point where it truly can be the relief; he needs to get all way through this after the medical bills he’s incurring and the complete loss of income,” Vann said.
Vann told News 5 he wanted to help for multiple reasons.
Yet a big one is because Vann credits The Beer Guy for saving his restaurant during the COVID-19 pandemic after he went door-to-door to people’s homes and sold beer.
“Les was enshrined into our Table Hall of Fame during COVID,” said Vann.
Vann said he'd do anything he could to support The Beer Guy until he could get back on his feet— a task he'll do in a heartbeat.
“I think after 49 years, he’s become more than a significant part of just the cultural infrastructure in Cleveland,” said Vann.
Now, when you visit the Jolly Scholar or Jolly Pizza and buy "Cold Beer Here," Vance says all proceeds will directly benefit ‘The Beer Guy’ as he recovers.
“A thousand, a thousand thank yous, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much,” said Flake.
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