If you are going to bring up the topic of rules no longer in effect you should at least be complete. From the rules of that time:
"Should the pitcher repeatedly fail to deliver to the striker fair balls, for the apparent purpose of delaying the game, or for any other cause, the umpire, after warning him, shall call one ball, and if the pitcher persists in such action, two and three balls; when three balls shall have been called, the striker shall be entitled to the first base; and should any base be occupied at that time, each player occupying them shall be entitled to one base without being put out."
Batters decided if pitches were too high or too low. A ball was called after the third unfair pitch, meaning that 9 "unhittable" pitches were required for a base on balls.
It's easy to see why the rules that you cite were scrapped. It's interesting to read about this from a historical perspective but that game is quite literally not the same game as modern baseball and that renders the rules of that era irrelevant for this discussion.