Why have "less than 250 feet" in rule 5.05(a)(5) if rule 2.01 renders its chance of occurrence to zero?

Question

While reading Rule 5.05, I came across the following in (a)(5):

A fair ball passes over a fence or into the stands at a distance from
  home base of 250 feet or more. Such hit entitles the batter to a home
  run when he shall have touched all bases legally. A fair fly ball that
  passes out of the playing field at a point less than 250 feet from
  home base shall entitle the batter to advance to second base only;

I am unable to picture a stadium having a wall in fair territory less than 250 feet away from home. In fact, a mandate from Rule 2.01 says:

The distance from home base to the nearest fence, stand or other
  obstruction on fair territory shall be 250 feet or more.

What is the historical significance, if any, of having "less than 250 feet" in rule 5.05(a)(5) if ballparks cannot have walls less than 250 feet away from home plate (per rule 2.01)?

Jason P Sallinger · Answer

I found the following, from this website:

Prior to the 1930 American League season, and prior to the 1931
  National League season, fly balls that bounced over or through the
  outfield fence were home runs! All batted balls that cleared or went
  through the fence on the fly or that were hit more than 250 feet in
  the air and cleared or went through the fence after a bounce in fair
  territory were counted as home runs. After the rule change the batter
  was awarded second base and these were called "automatic doubles"
  (ground-rule doubles are ballpark-specific rules) and are covered by
  rule 6.09(d)-(h) in the MLB Rule Book.

It would seem that ground-rule doubles were counted as home runs back then, as long as they traveled at least 250 feet in the air first.

Why have "less than 250 feet" in rule 5.05(a)(5) if rule 2.01 renders its chance of occurrence to zero?

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