and the Golden Bell Awards-California School Boards Association With its outstanding schools, friendly neighbors and strategic location as the crossroads of two of the area's principal freeways, Los Alamitos has nowhere to go but up! The small city has been the hometown for a number of noted athletes including Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby, and many major league baseball players, including Andy Messersmith, who challenged baseball's reserve clause and helped established free agency in professional sports. At one point in the late 1980s, six natives of Rossmoor and Los Alamitos were playing baseball in the major leagues -- Robb Nen, J.T. Snow, Greg Harris, Dennis Lamp, Greg Pirkl, and Mike Kelly. The area is also home to record holding long distance swimmer Lynne Cox. It was also home to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas while he served on the Court, and to award-winning mystery writer Jan Burke.