In baseball and in life, “three strikes” are typically a bad thing. But for world-class bowler Carmen Salvino, it’s just another day at the office. He began his career as a professional bowler at 19 years of age, and 70 years later, he’s only now looking back at just how many pins he’s knocked down.

Carmen was born in the Taylor Street neighborhood of Chicago near Flournoy and Ashland. His father was from Calabria and his mother from Abruzzi. His dad had agricultural roots, so when the Depression struck, the family moved to a farm outside of Miami to weather the storm.