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Everybody loves the Cinderella story in sports. Overcoming all odds to shock the world is more fun to see and be a part of than the chalk-favorite winning. Arizona Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall is no exception.

This whole offseason, Hall has heard constant murmuring that the Diamondbacks are going to stink. It seems that almost all the experts see the D-backs finishing last in their division, if not last in the entire league. Hall said he’s not yet bothered by all the negativity.

“I’m not tired at all,” Hall told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Monday. “It’s better than them saying, ‘Hey, they’re supposed to win it,’ and you don’t. That’s what happened the last couple of years, especially in 2012, when we were expected to be in the World Series. I think that’s tougher. I think it’s more fun sneaking up on people. I think it’s more fun exceeding expectations when they’re very low, and I like that this team is motivated by the fact that there has been so much criticism and doubt.”

In 2011, the Diamondbacks won 94 games and a division title, so the expectations were big entering 2012. Things didn’t go as expected and they finished seven games back of a playoff spot in the midst of a mediocre 81-81 season.

After another 81-81 season in 2013, their record dropped to 64-98 last year. In order to exceed expectations this season, one thing will be the deciding factor.

“It’s really what comes down to pitching,” Hall said. “I believe you win with pitching and defense. We’ve said that forever. That’s why we focused on pitching this year. But, for us to acquire pitching, we had to acquire young, not necessarily proven pitching, and it’s going to be developing and they can click.”

Hall went on to again reference that 2011 season, where it was pitching that led them to improve from 65 wins in 2010 to 94 and a playoff berth.

“Nobody thought that that pitching would click and it did. We had a 20-game winner. (Daniel Hudson) had a big year right behind Ian (Kennedy) and we got there. You just never know. I’m not saying we’re going to win the division, but we can compete and we could see guys develop this year quicker than we thought.”

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