The Flames Baseball Club began back in the winter of 1991/1992. Wayne Nash, club founder, had seen a baseball movie at a local cinema, and became very interested in the sport. He did some research, found that baseball was played in Britain and then contacted the British Baseball Federation (BBF), the sport's national governing body.
Wayne was a youth worker, so he naturally thought of starting a junior baseball club. Over the winter months, he worked together with a collegaue, Colin Bushell, on the newly formed Brunswick Braves.
As the 1992 spring slowly approached more youths joined the club. Wayne knew he needed a professional approach and worked to become a fully qualified Baseball Coach.
The summer rolled by and less of the younger members stuck with baseball due to football commitments. By the end of the year, only an adult team survived. At the end of the 1992 season, the team went to watch a BBF league game between Hounslow and Cambridge - this prompted the club to enter into the league for the 1993 season.
On joining the BBF league, the players voted the team to be called the Fulham Flames (even though the team never actually played in Fulham!). There was little money in the early days - Wayne even had to sew an 'F' on each of the players' uniforms, but the Flames organisation had begun its journey into British Baseball.
Today, the club has blossomed. Moving to the Richmond area brought a change of name to the Richmond Flames. The club grew prodigiously, to become the largest adult baseball club in the country. The crowning glory in September 2006, 15 seasons in the making, was for the first time seeing the Flames win the National Championship.
2000
The Richmond Knights were created and had a great first season with many baseball first-timers involved. Richmond Baseball Club was born, no longer being just the Flames.
2001
The organisation added a National League team and a women's softball team. Both proved to be short lived.Ian Cox took over from Wayne as club general manager.
2003
The club moved to its new ground, Connare Field, at Ham Riverside. This "field of dreams" brought a new heightened interest from players. The club invested in a batting cage and pitching machine; the weekly practice sessions really picked up.
The club launched a third adult baseball team the Richmond Dragons to cope with demand from new players. Like the Knights before them, the Dragons were a developmental team for mostly novice players. The rookie Dragons confounded expectations and finished eighth in the league amassing six wins in the team's inaugural season.
The Flames went to the Final Four championship and the Knights were promoted into the Premier League, after winning a perfect five games out of five in the postseason. The season was capped when Richmond sent a team to the European invitational tournament in Venray, Holland, and came back with the winner's trophy.
2004
The Flames were invited into the BBF National League - the highest level in the country. The Knights played its first season in the Premier League and the club were invited to the CEB Cup in Vienna. 2004 also saw the creation of a non-league development team, the Richmond Riverdogs, to cope with further growth driven by new players.
The club become Richmond Baseball and Softball Club with a seond foray into running softball. Like the first attempt it proved short lived, although the club name lived on.
2005
The club became the largest adult baseball club in the country, with four teams playing in the league for the first time, a huge milestone for the organisation.
The Flames stuttered in the National League, finding the going very tough. Success came via the Knights in the Premier Division and Dragons in Division 1; both had their best ever seasons, with the Knights making it to the Premier playoffs for the first time. The Riverdogs went into Division 2, struggled for wins, but provided great experience for a broadly rookie squad.
John Walmsley took over from Ian Cox as club general manager.
2006
There were high hopes for the Flames which had recruited hard in the offseason. Strong performances saw them finish one game back of Croydon in the National League regular season, only to beat Croydon in the post season three-game series National Championship, coming back from being one game down.
The Knights finished top of the Premier Division for the first time, and in post season play made it to the Final Four final, only to lose to arch rival Cambridge. The Dragons and Riverdogs found the going tough in the lower divisions, but were still providing great development opportunities for rookie and less experienced players.
2007
Further demand from new players saw the creation of a fifth team the Richmond Isotopes as a non-league rookie team, in the same way every team back to the Flames in 1992 had been launched. The pressure was on the Flames as reigning national champions, narrowly missing a playoff berth to perennial rivals Croydon and the ultimate new champions London Mets, a start-up club in 2007. The Knights went one better than in 2006, not only topping the Southern Premier Division but also beating Essex in the Final 4s for the National Premier Division title. The Dragons and Riverdogs went head to head in Division 1, with honours even, although the Dragons finished 10-10 and the Dawg scratching out just four wins.
2008
The club saw an influx of new rookie talent, and also a squeeze in the top teams and decided to move the Riverdogs back to non-league status and rebuild. The Flames looked to put 2007 behind them finishing second in the National Baseball League behind London Mets. The Flames lost the National Baseball Championship series to the Mets. The Knights started in the new look AAA-Division (old Premier Division) finishing mid table as did the Dragons in AA-Division (old Division 1). The Riverdogs played a number of non-league games.
The club merged with London Angels, a women and girls' fastpitch softball programme. Driven by this and a desire to round-out the club, a youth programme for 6 to 12 year olds was started in the summer months. The club also saw the opening of the new £600,000 clubhouse, with changing rooms and bar/lounge facilities. Richmond can now be said to be one of the best clubs in the country for baseball and softball.