A routine hotel stay in Shawnee, Oklahoma, turned into something else entirely for Cameron High School’s baseball team, and it was their coach, former major leaguer Kevin Lomon, who stepped into the middle of it.
The team had come into town for a game earlier in the day and settled in for the night with 13 players staying together at the hotel. Then, around 9 p.m., one of the players called Lomon’s room with a frightening update: a man had pulled a knife on him in the hallway.
Lomon immediately told the players to get back into their rooms and call 911. After that, he went into the hallway himself.
A Shawnee police report says he found Christopher Stevens near the elevators holding an open knife. Lomon ordered Stevens to drop it, but Stevens kept moving toward him.
“I had to react,” Lomon told KFDM. “I didn’t have much time to think about it.”
The police report says Lomon struck Stevens several times and held him down until officers got there. Police recovered two knives at the scene. Stevens was arrested and booked into the Pottawatomie County Safety Center on complaints of assault with a deadly weapon and public intoxication.
No one was physically hurt, including the 13 players staying at the hotel.
Afterward, Lomon brushed off the idea that he had done anything extraordinary. “I don’t think I’m a hero,” he said.
“I just think I would do it again. I think a lot of coaches, most coaches or most people I know, would do the same.”
He also said the episode sent a clear message to his team. “I think this situation might be at another level where they know I’ll fight for them,” he said.
Lomon’s playing career came before the coaching job. He spent parts of two seasons in the major leagues, pitching for the Mets in 1995 with a 6.75 ERA over six relief appearances.
In that stint, he allowed 17 hits and struck out six across 9 1/3 innings. His big-league numbers across brief runs with the Mets and Braves finished at a 5.94 ERA over 16 2/3 innings.
Since the incident became public, Lomon’s name has spread quickly, with fans and fellow coaches praising the way he handled it.
In Other News...
Mets Prospect Sammy Stafura Is Suddenly On A Fast Track
Sammy Stafuras path has moved quickly since the former Panas standout was taken by the Reds and cycled through multiple minor league stops, but his latest landing spot may be the one that changes the conversation around him. The 2023 graduate, who was also Gatorade New York Baseball Player of the Year, was traded to the Mets on Aug. 3 in a deal that sent reliever Luke Weaver and cash back to Cincinnati, and he is already working with High-A Brooklyn.
For the Mets, Stafura now becomes one of the more interesting names to watch in the system because of the speed with which the organization thinks he can move. Manager Eduardo Nunez expects him to climb the ladder quickly through the minors, with the possibility of an MLB debut as soon as next season if everything keeps trending in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
The Mets Trade Linked To Atlantas Most Painful World Series Loss
For a franchise that spent plenty of time chasing Atlanta in the old NL East, this is one of those back-end transactions that wound up carrying a strange little footnote in baseball history. On Aug. 28, 1991, the Mets sent reliever Alejandro Pena to the Braves for Tony Castillo and a player to be named later, a move that barely registered at the time compared with the bigger picture of the season.
Pena settled in well enough with Atlanta during the stretch run and into the postseason, helping the Braves reach the World Series before the final act turned brutal in Game 7 against Minnesota. He later returned to Atlanta and had mixed October moments after that, but the trade still sits in a memorable corner of Mets-Braves history because of how closely it connects New York to one of the most painful losses in Braves history. [Read more 🡒]
Mets May Have Found A First Base Answer They Werent Expecting
The Mets spent the winter trying to sort out first base after Pete Alonsos departure, and the position looked like a potential hole that might need help from outside the organization. Instead, Jared Young has given them something closer to stability than anyone might have expected, handling the spot well enough in 2026 to turn a question mark into a legitimate part of the conversation. His path makes the fit even more interesting, considering he arrived after playing in the KBO and has now shown enough on both sides of the ball to matter.
Youngs rise also changes the way the Mets can approach the market. With few appealing free-agent first basemen available and trade capital likely reserved for other needs, there is real value in having an internal option who already looks capable of holding the job. The bigger question now is whether the Mets treat this as a temporary solution or start planning around Young as part of the 2027 roster picture. [Read more 🡒]