In my opinion this problem, is one of those "lesser of 5 evil types." Neither option is ideal, but option A is the better choice of the other 4 - answer by elimination. Here's my rationale:

Immediately, options C & E stand out as poor choices because they end the sentence with a verb, which is generally poor style and structure.

Option D seems to change the message of the sentence slightly. Option D describes "discussed" as a product of baseball's presence, as opposed to being two separate characteristics as described in the original sentence.

Option B is just wordy and poorly written.

Although option A doesn't sound necessarily good (to most readers), its grammatical structure is sound.

I agree that A is the best answer, but the "," before "and" threw me off. Is that comma placement grammatically correct?

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the moderator riteshbindal has some valid points.
Baseball, the only major professional sport during the Great Depression, was as present as the weather, and as much discussed.
A) as present as the weather, and as much discussed
B) present like the weather was, and it was also discussed as much
C) as present and was discussed as the weather was
D) so present as to be discussed like weather
E) present and discussed as often as the weather was
first is the issue of like and as (oft repeated in GMAT) and
between A and E.
there is the issue of much and often.

Expert please explain

@kstv
Can you explain riteshjindals explanation for B and D. What is meant by comparison is in clauses,