The year is 1999.
It is a time of great peace and prosperity. The only fear in America's collective heart is whether its new digital calculator wristwatch would survive the dreaded Y2K bug. Shakespeare in Love has just won Best Picture, to the delight of drama geek lesbians the world over.
Padres had just finished what, by all accounts, should be the first World Series appearance in a series of several post season appearances. San Diego prepares for the new downtown ballpark (speculatively called Sempra Park) to be built within the next year. The House that Gwynn Built.
In that very same year, a young Pad Squadder joins the team. Donning a visor, she roots harder than any rooter. She is more fanatic than any fan. Her intensity is limited only by physics. She is known by many names, Visor Girl, The One Girl Who's Awesome at Pad Squadding, but we come to know her as Pad Squad Erica.
And now skip ahead to 2010. The FUTURE.
The world has become something unrecognizable with marijuana on every street corner and "iPods" in everyone's ears.
And saddest of all, Pad Squad Erica announces her retirement. Padres games will be a little less peppy with Visor Girl no longer manning her station.