Former Major League Baseball pitcher Kevin Lomon is credited with fending off a man armed with a knife who approached a player at a hotel in Shawnee, Oklahoma, earlier this month. Lomon, 54, who now coaches the Cameron High School baseball team, was traveling with 13 players for a game when the incident occurred.
According to reports, Lomon received a call around 9 p.m. on August 16 from a player who stated a man had pulled a knife. Lomon instructed the players to return to their rooms and call the police. Police reports indicate that the man, identified as Christopher Stevens, stood by an elevator with an open knife as a player walked past. Lomon then confronted Stevens.
"I had to react," Lomon told KFDM. "I didn’t have much time to think about it."
Lomon stated he told Stevens to put the knife down, but the man continued to approach. The police report details that Lomon then punched Stevens multiple times and held him on the ground until law enforcement arrived. Officers reportedly found two knives at the scene. Stevens was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and public intoxication.
Lomon, who pitched for the Mets and Braves in the mid-1990s, said he felt a responsibility to protect his players. "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 be do the same."
Lomon has since retained an attorney.
Lomon appeared in 12 games for the Mets and Braves across the 1995 and 1996 seasons. He posted a career ERA of 5.94 over 16 2/3 innings pitched.