Not sure if you listen to the Press Row podcast at all or are familiar with Rich Grisham from Hit the Pass, but he has created a really great way to get through the MLB season by utilizing the sim engine through the first 6/7 innings with player lock, then entering the game full-on after that. I'm not a big NHL player, so I don't have any suggestions for that. However for NBA I've been simming the first three quarters of games, then jumping in after that.
It seems like you are a stat junkie like me (I have countless Word, Excel, and Google Pages set up), so lowering the games played per season may not suit your need like some of the guys have done in the Basketball Forums.
Not sure if I was able to help at all, but best of luck! I am married with one young one and hopefully more to come, so it's nice to see the gaming never ends!
