“Soaking,” “patching,” or “plugging” refers to an early method in baseball where a fielder could put a baserunner out by hitting them with a thrown ball instead of tagging them, similar to how players are put out in kickball.
Odd Sports and Rules (Part One)
I learned that these three things actually existed, during Hazardous History with Henry Winkler, Season 1, Episode 4. on the History Channel.