No autoplay. Roll all the games myself. Solitaire, but I manage both teams to make the best moves to win. Keep all the stats in Collections, one folder for the AL and one for the NL.
This has been great. Of the 448 regular season games, only three (the last three of a final series between the Reds and Cubs) had nothing on the line. It took me eleven months, playing (on average) four games every three days. There’s really nothing I would do any different. Very enjoyable.
For 12 teams, I’m thinking a 32-game season might be a good length. (4 games vs each division opponent = 20 games. 2 games vs each non-division opponent = 12 games. That makes for a nice, balanced tournament.). I would definitely recommend having two or three teams make the playoffs in each division though. That helps keep things more exciting right to the end.
With a post-season, that would be approx 215 games max… which is a nice length. I suppose a lot depends on how often you get to play. I knock off most games in about 30 minutes, so it’s pretty easy for me to squeeze in a game a day.
Good luck!
(Edited to add:) Another cool option is just have a short double- or triple-elimination tournament. Those are always quick and fun. And every game is important. A triple-elim tourney for 12 teams would last approx 35 games…
https://www.printyourbrackets.com/triple-elimination-bracket-12-teams-seeded.html