A former student-athlete, Doug Wabeke played baseball at Grand Rapids and was a two-time All-American in 1977 and played at Central Michigan University, an NCAA Division I school, in 1979 and 1980. The shortstop earned All-MAC Conference honors and signed with the San Francisco Giants in 1980.
Wabeke enjoyed stints in the minors with the Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, climbing as high as Class AA before returning to West Michigan in 1984. Wabeke then began his 17 year head coaching stint at Grand Rapids during the 1987-88 school year. The coach reached 500 wins in his 11th season, in 1998 and won five total national championships, the first five in school history for any sport (back-to-back titles in 1996, 1997, and three-consecutive titles in 2003, 2004). Wabeke completed his coaching career for the Raiders in 2004. Wabeke also spent time as the co-athletic director at Grand Rapids.